Pierce the Veil released “Emergency Contact” on November 11, 2022, through Fearless Records. The single arrived with the announcement of The Jaws of Life, their fifth studio album and the follow-up to 2016’s Misadventures. “Pass the Nirvana” had introduced the new material that September; “Emergency Contact” followed with a relationship caught between commitment and uncertainty.
For vocalist and guitarist Vic Fuentes, the title grew out of an ordinary piece of paperwork. In his track-by-track commentary for Apple Music, he described the transition from listing a parent or guardian as an emergency contact to naming a partner. “God forbid something happens to me; my wife will be the one to help me,” he said. That small administrative change carried a much bigger meaning: another person had become the one he would depend on in a crisis. The lyrics explored how difficult it can be to reach that level of commitment. In comments published by Blabbermouth when the single arrived, Fuentes described two people who wanted different things from the same relationship. One was ready to commit, while the other remained undecided, leaving their partner asking for a decision.
Fuentes wrote the song while staying at Mike Herrera’s home studio. The MxPx musician let him live there for a couple of months as he worked on the record. Fuentes associated the Seattle area with the 1990s grunge music that inspired him, and he welcomed the rain. In a February 2023 Forbes interview, he placed Herrera’s house more precisely in Bremerton, across the water from Seattle, and described the trip as time spent writing and gathering material.
That interest in a different musical vocabulary extended across The Jaws of Life. Speaking to Mixdown in 2023, Fuentes explained that intricate, metal-influenced guitar writing was giving way to a stronger focus on riffs and melodies. He wanted producer Paul Meany to challenge the band’s decisions and argue for what a song needed. Choosing someone willing to push back was part of the process, and Fuentes credited that collaboration with helping the group move forward after a period when they had felt disconnected.
The album sessions also gave them time together outside a conventional studio routine. As Fuentes told Kerrang! in 2023, the band worked from a house in New Orleans, with drums in the dining room and a recording setup in the living room. They could work, cook and spend evenings together in the same place. He described the experience as rebuilding their friendship as well as making an album, with better communication strengthening the group.
The Jaws of Life followed on February 10, 2023. “Emergency Contact” went on to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart dated August 5, becoming Pierce the Veil’s first leader on a Billboard radio airplay chart. The song reached the top in its 28th week on that chart.
