TWENTY ONE PILOTS THE FINAL CHAPTER: BREACH

By Kayla Harper

INTRODUCTION

2025 has been an insane year for Twenty Øne Piløts and their fans.  The Ohio duo wrapped up their recent tour in support of their latest album, Clancy, in May –the same month they celebrated the ten year anniversary of their breakthrough record, Blurryface.  After months of teasing fans with cryptic letters and codes throughout the last leg of the Clancy Tour, the boys finally announced on May 21–only three days before the one-year-anniversary of Clancy–that their new album, Breach, will be out in September and its lead single “The Contract” will be out June 12.  Not only is this news exciting, but it’s shocking considering Twenty Øne Piløts are known for taking a minimum two-three year break between album cycles.  Over the last couple of days since “The Contract” was released on June 12, we have gotten a tour announcement, multiple vinyl variants, more information about Breach and a music video with tons of easter eggs and lore.  Aside from all of this, there is also a lot to unpack within the new single, “The Contract”.

**to avoid confusion between album and character names Blurryface/Nico will be referred to as Nico and Clancy/Tyler Joseph will be referred to as Tyler Joseph because these are all used interchangeably**

SECTION 1: “THE CONTRACT”

1A) INSTRUMENTAL

Sonically and thematically “The Contract” doesn’t stray far from where Clancy left off, however, it has a darker and heavier sound almost as if Clancy and Blurryface were blended together, with hints of Vessel/Regional At Best sprinkled in, offering something fresh and new.  It’s classic Twenty Øne Piløts in the way that it’s tricky to pinpoint the exact genre or style –it seems to draw inspiration from electronic, synth-pop, punk-rock, nu-metal, hard-rock, hip-hop/rap, etc. so basically everything, resulting in a unique sound and rollercoaster of a track, that is somewhat still cohesive and relevant to the story.  The instrumental starts off with piano which carries through the track accompanied by synth-keyboards, bass and electric guitar with a classic rhythmic and complex drum track by the band’s drummer, Josh Dun, that is very reminiscent at times to “Heavydirtysoul” the opening track from Blurryface.  Lead singer, songwriter, bassist, pianist, ukuleleist, guitarist, etc.  Tyler Joseph delivers impressive vocals across the entire song, from singing to rapping to screaming, he does it all and does it well.

What’s especially interesting is the song’s unusual structure –one that is uncommon in most modern mainstream music. I love a song when you can’t predict what’s coming next. The song starts with the pre-chorus before moving into the chorus which is lyrically reminiscent of Clancy’s “Routines In The Night”.  Next it moves to the first verse which is the most Blurryface-esque rap since Blurryface.  By the time it hits the pre-chorus for a second time, it’s very much giving Linkin Park–which is interesting considering Linkin Park’s late lead singer, Chester Bennington, was a huge fan and admirer of Twenty Øne Piløts, publicly expressing his admiration of the band and Tyler Joseph.  Bennington even covered some tøp songs including “The Judge”.  Later in the track we are introduced to a post-chorus and bridge section, along with an ominous outro.

1B) LYRICS AND LORE

Lyrically, “The Contract” contains a lot of references dating all the way back to tøp’s self-titled debut record (2009), and even some that remind fans of Joseph’s solo debut, No Phun Intended (2007).

Immediately,  the opening lyrics in the pre-chorus call back to Blurryface’s “Not Today”:

“I chеck the doors, check the windows, and pull the blinds” – (“The Contract”, 2025)

“heard you say not today, tore the curtains down, windows open now make a sound” ( “Not Today”, 2015).

I do believe this reference is intentional.  In “Not Today” Joseph is trying to stand up to Nico; he’s not hiding, he’s tearing down the curtains and opening the windows to let in light (which is a significant motif we’ll get into soon).  Contrarily, in “The Contract” Joseph is taking the opposite approach; he’s closing the windows and blinds, not letting the light in; hiding from Nico.  It’s important to note that “The Contract” also picks up where Clancy’s final track “Paladin Strait” left off -the final battle between Nico (Blurryface) and Clancy (Joseph).

 

1B) LYRICS AND LORE: Sleep Motif

In the chorus Joseph sings, “I don’t sleep much…keep myself up” (“The Contract”, 2025) which is significant because sleep and day/night have been a huge recurring motif in all of tøp’s albums and Joseph’s solo project, it’s also used for symbolic representation in the lore.  To name every song that has ever referenced sleep in this way would take forever, but it comes up in different ways.

Joseph has previously referred to sleep and night/day in songs like: “Blasphemy”/“Anathema”, “Hear Me Now”, “Taken By Sleep”, “The Pantaloon”, “Ode To Sleep”, “Semi-Automatic”, “Guns For Hands”, “Migraine”, “The Run and Go”, “Message Man” etc.

What these songs all have in common is they express this inability to sleep and in turn fear of the night because without being able to sleep, Joseph is left to deal with his depression, suicidal thoughts and tendencies alone.  Additionally, they describe morning/day/light as a time when those feelings can subside. “the horrors of the night melt away under the warm glow of survival of the day…my shadow grows taller along with my fears and my frame shrinks smaller as night grows near”  (“Semi-Automatic”, Vessel,  2013) These lyrics clearly demonstrate Joseph’s fear of the night/dark and the way the morning or light can relieve those feelings, in the following lines we see how the return of night brings them back, “when the sun is climbing window sills and the silver lining rides the hills, I will be saved for one whole day until the sun makes the hill it’s grave”  (“Semi-Automatic”, Vessel,  2013).

Additionally, Joseph’s insomnia and inability to sleep as a result of his mind has previously been mentioned in songs such as “Overcompensate” and “Routines In The Night”.  In 2018’s “Jumpsuit” sleep was suggested to offer peace-of-mind, but also a state of ignorance. In order to face Nico, Joseph needs to be awake and alert: “we’ve been here the whole time. You’ve been asleep. It’s time to wake up”.

Waking-up has previously been associated with escape.  In the “Nico and the Niners” music video, Joseph escapes at dawn, just as the sun is coming up, just as morning/light/day is approaching.  In “The Contract” Joseph sings, “is it light out yet?” maybe this is him asking if it’s safe, if Nico’s gone, etc.

 

1B) LYRICS AND LORE: Who is Necromancer?

In simple terms, a necromancer is someone who practices necromancy; can communicate with the dead.  In relevance to the lore, necromancy seems to be represented by seizing –this refers to the bishops ability to possess the dead bodies of the glorious gone (individuals who have died by vialism [suicide]) and control them.  In “The Outside” music video we learn Joseph can also do this using Ned’s antlers, when he possesses the bishop, Keons.  Ned is a character representing Joseph’s creativity, therefore, his creativity or art (music) can overcome his insecurities (Nico).

I could go into more detail but for the sake of simplicity, Nico is the necromancer Joseph is referring to.

 

1B) LYRICS AND LORE: Quiet is Violent…or not?

Another recurring theme brought up in “The Contract” is silence.  While it has been somewhat relevant on other albums, it was most prominent on Regional At Best (2011) and Vessel (2013).  Like sleep, silence seems to represent Joseph’s desires to avoid his struggles; Clancy’s attempts to hide from and avoid Nico.  On “The Contract” Joseph sings, “I’m just trying to stay quiet”, after the section in which he sings, “I chеck the doors, check the windows, and pull the blinds…I have a feeling that necromancers’ outside”.  As we previously established, the first half of these lyrics seems to be an attempt to hide and necromancer refers to the bishops, specifically Nico, so it makes sense that trying to stay quiet is his way of trying to not draw attention.

However, silence is referred to differently on Regional At Best (2011) and Vessel (2013) where it seems to correspond more closely to the symbolism of sleep and nighttime.  Lyrics like: “sometimes quiet is violent” (“Car Radio”, 2011) and “I am quiet now and silence gives you space” (“Fake You Out”, 2013), seem to suggest that silence is a time that allows these harmful thoughts to pass through Joseph’s head more easily.  So there’s two contradicting theories of what silence could stand for here.

 

1B) LYRICS AND LORE: Where is the Hallucination? 

In “The Contract” Joseph repeatedly mentions a hallucination: “my hallucination, I used to see”.  This hallucination is most likely referring to Dun’s character, the Torchbearer.  The Torchbearer is symbolic of a guiding light for Joseph. However, in the “Navigating” music video we learn that the real Torchbearer has been absent for some time and has actually been a hallucination, or projection in Joseph’s mind.

I believe the lack of this hallucination could correspond with the F.P.E. letter between Torchbearer and Joseph revealed during the EU leg of Clancy Tour.  It seemed as if Joseph/Clancy was starting to lose sight of their reason for fighting the bishops and might be succumbing to evil;  If Joseph no longer sees his hallucination/guiding light he no longer sees a reason to fight.

 

1B) LYRICS AND LORE: Personification of the Clock

At first listen, “I check the clock wondering what he’ll pull this time” (“The Contract”, 2025) might be an odd lyric to some as Joseph personifies a clock.  However, “The Contract” is not the first time a clock has been referred to in this way in a tøp song.  In 2013’s “Migraine” Joseph sings, “I do not have writer’s block, my writer just hates the clock”.   The clock is symbolic of the passing of time and seems to represent anxiety.  In “Migraine” Joseph is stressed that he cannot create quickly enough as a result of his depression and external pressures to do things at a quicker pace to keep up with the demands of the industry, which can be mistaken for writer’s block.  In “The Contract” he is scared of what his anxiety will cause him to do or feel in response to it.

 

1B) LYRICS AND LORE: Change. 

The last three albums have seemed to be linked by this concept of needing to change to appease others which is a common occurrence in any artistic industry, but especially music.  Musicians are constantly expected to be bigger and better, and fans are always asking for more.  Joseph sings, “Change up, wait, did it change up?” (“The Contract”, 2025), although I’m not exactly sure if they are linked, it reminded me of the other two times he sang similar lyrics about change.  The first time on Scaled and Icy’s “Saturday”: “keep things fresh, she said that I should change my clothes”.  Which is not only about the pandemic, but upon deeper analysis seems to be about an artist’s struggle to keep things the public’s attention as things always have to be new and fresh.  The second time, in “Backslide”, Joseph actually references this line from “Saturday” directly: “Kind of wishing that I never did Saturday

Is that a stain? You should change”.  As a result of its upbeat pop sound that was new and fresh for tøp, “Saturday” received a lot of unwarranted backlash from fans, resulting in Joseph feeling the need to change again.

 

1B) LYRICS AND LORE: The Contract 

Throughout “The Contract” Joseph refers to “promises and contracts” but what exactly is he talking about?  Before hearing the song and only knowing the title I thought maybe it could refer to the music industry.  When an artist signs their contract they often sign away a lot of their rights to their art and are obligated to act on certain promises.  However, upon listening to the song and watching the band’s most recent interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, I believe he is referring to the fans and to Nico.

In the interview with Zane Lowe, Joseph discusses how the name Breach was a play on how they felt they breached their fans trust with Clancy as they said it was the end, but it wasn’t.  He didn’t keep his promises to the fans.

In a deeper lore analysis, it seems like maybe Joseph is succumbing to Nico because he can’t defeat them on his own without his hallucination/the torchbearer, “I used to see, it felt so real, but now I plead just take the deal, I promised you a contract” (“The Contract”, 2025).  However, this theory doesn’t stand in terms of the music video where Joseph/Clancy is saying this to Torchbearer.   Maybe Joseph feels like Torchbearer isn’t following through on his word now that he can’t see him or has learned he’s only projecting himself in Joseph’s mind?  We’ll get into this deeper in the next section analyzing the music video!

SECTION 2: “THE CONTRACT” MUSIC VIDEO

“The Contract” music video picks up exactly where “Paladin Strait” left off, replaying the last few seconds of it when Nico and Joseph are face to face and Nico says: “Hello Clancy” (“Paladin Strait”, 2024).  After this we seem to be transported inside of Joseph’s mind.  He opens his eyes and suddenly he is surrounded by a faceless army and all we see are red glowing eyes.  It’s unclear if this is a direct reference to the song “Glowing Eyes” off of Regional At Best, but this is possible considering in the song glowing eyes represent his dark thoughts: “but do I want to say goodbye to all the glowing eyes?” 

Throughout the video that seems to be taking place inside of Joseph’s mind we see thousands of black painted hands resembling Blurryface grabbing at him, we see him fading into smithereens as the darkness consumes him, storms, snow, underwater…there’s a lot going on.  All of which is happening inside his head while he’s face to face with Nico.

At the end right before he opens his eyes, we see Joseph (dressed as Clancy) telling Torchbearer (Dun) “I promised you a contract” (“The Contract”, 2025). He promised Torchbearer and the Banditos a plan to defeat Nico and the Niners and in turn Dema.  Afterwards, the boys play out the scene they had been performing every night on the Clancy Tour in which Torchbearer brings Joseph a specific jacket, which he puts on before heading into battle with Nico in the “Paladin Strait” video symbolizing his alliance with the Banditos. However, over the course of the tour, Joseph starts to hesitate before taking the jacket, eventually, by the last show he doesn’t take the jacket at all and covers his eyes as he walks towards Dema.  In “The Contract” video, Joseph refuses the jacket.  Then he wakes up eye to eye with Nico, where “Paladin Strait” left off.  So essentially, we’re at the exact same cliffhanger, now we just know what was going on in Joseph’s head for the brief moments his eyes were closed, which will most likely influence what he does next.

 

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SECTION 3: Clancy Tour: Breach

With the release of “The Contract” the boys also announced The Clancy Tour: Breach.  Rather than a new tour in support of the new album, it seems to be a short run of shows across North America in a weird mix of theatres and arenas.  For example, in Toronto where I last saw the boys on The Clancy Tour, they played the arena.  However, this time they are playing the outdoor Budweiser Stage which is an amphitheater and smaller capacity…which is a little frustrating because although I’d love to see them in a smaller venue, they have gotten a lot of new fans after the success of Clancy and there’s only one Canadian show… … … This very limited run of shows will take place from September 18 kicking off in Ohio to October 25 in Los Angeles.  While it isn’t confirmed some fans have theorized more shows will be announced.  I would love more shows, but I also understand the boys just came off of a year-long world tour and have families and lives they deserve to enjoy.

Fans had the opportunity to sign up for presale on the band’s website, https://www.twentyonepilots.com/tour which would take place on June 17 at 10:00 a.m. local time with general sale taking place on June 20.

After going through presale for Toronto this morning and connecting with fans who participated in other cities presales it was a mess.  The demand has grown since Clancy’s tour and there was not enough space at many venues to accommodate it.  Additionally, Ticketmaster’s pricing is absurd as always and many seats were bought by bots and being sold for an enormous markup on resale sites only minutes after presale started.  It’s unfortunate buying concert tickets has to feel like entering the 77th Hunger Games every time.

At this point, no opening acts or VIP/FPE add-ons have been disclosed for this tour.

 

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SECTION 4: EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT BREACH

Breach is tøp’s eighth album, but seventh studio album if we’re not counting the unofficially released Regional At Best.  The album is set to come out in September 2025 with no release date confirmed at this point, however, many fans are speculating the album will come out on September 5 since this is when many vinyl preorders are set to ship out.

So far, we have an excessive amount of vinyl variants for Breach, while I love collecting different colours, some do feel unnecessary such as having four picture discs.  However, many of the colours are very pretty and match the album well.   There are four webstore exclusives offered in different coloured splatter pressings, four indie exclusive picture discs offered at independent record stores, a standard red pressing that will most likely be offered at all record retailers, a yellow marble HMV exclusive, a silver glitter

Amazon and Urban Outfitters exclusive, Orchid Spotify fans first, red/black Target exclusive, and a CD.  While having so many variants is excessive and unnecessary, I always like having a couple and it’s starting to seem like the variants are not the artists choice, but rather each individual retailer/companies attempt at monetizing off of fans, I’m talking the Amazon, Target, Walmart, Urban Outfitter, HMV, etc.  this is clearly an agreement between them and the label so they can make even more money.

Before we move on from the topic of physical formats, it’s important to address the most significant variant, the F.P.E. First Pressing Edition.  (fans know F.P.E. has stood for many things over the last ten years and is very significant).  This F.P.E. variant was only available from the time Breach was announced to the night before “The Contract” came out, slowly losing saturation every day that passed until it was no longer available. All that was advertised with it was something along the lines of stating it was made for the fans who wanted to claim the album now before hearing it.

Later, fans who ordered the record or CD received an email from the band’s store thanking them for their support and letting them know they would receive a note from the band, exclusive poster and individually numbered jackets with this variant of the album which would never be manufactured again. (These fans should’ve gotten an F.P.E. presale for tour as well before the general presale today).

As for the actual album, it’s theorized to have a darker sound after the lead single “The Contract” which seems to return to the heavier, darker sound of the band’s previous work.  As stated earlier the title is a play on the way the band breached fans’ trust in regards to the direction of the storyline with the last release, Clancy.  I’m sure there’s an even deeper meaning that we’ll discover once we hear the entire record.  In the recent Zane Lowe interview, Joseph confirms Breach is the final chapter to the storyline and it will end with this album.  He also discloses that Breach is an extension of Clancy.  The band always knew they wanted to add more songs to Clancy, but weren’t sure how to go about it because they knew they did not want to do a deluxe album.  Eventually it became Breach and putting out a double album seemed like the best option. So, Breach is more or less an extension of Clancy. 

That is everything that’s been confirmed for now. However, fans have found a supposed tracklist by piecing together secret messages and codes revealed through literal morse code on Joseph’s shirts he would wear during the show as well as F.P.E. letters found in the VIP fan premiere exhibit at the shows, the Dema.org site and the Clancy digital remains.  The theorized tracklist holds up considering we had the name of the lead single “The Contract” days before it was announced as well as the album name Breach was decoded months prior. This tracklist also appears to be on a photo of the Urban Outfitters pressing.

 

If you’ve read this far…THANK YOU.  I know this was a long one, it took hours of research, writing, revising, editing, and also just collecting my thoughts into a coherent sentence because I am so overwhelmed with excitement!!