I’m not okay (I promise)! My Chemical Romance just dropped their first song in almost a decade! Ahead of their much-anticipated reunion tour starting this week, My Chem released “The Foundations of Decay” as a complete surprise! With no hype, teasing or even the slightest hint that they were releasing new music. I’m not joking when I say the tears were flowing when I saw their post about it! It was that moment where you’re so in shock, you don’t know what to do with yourself. The last song released by My Chem, “Fake Your Own Death”, came out in 2014: a song that was originally recorded for their unfinished fifth album that was, instead, included on their greatest hits compilation, May Death Never Stop You. The compilation came a year after the band’s unfortunate split.
The lead single dropped for a new album is the most important song a band will release.
Not only does it set the tone for the whole album, it reflects where the band is at at that moment. I obviously don’t know the whole album or the vibe, but I already think this is the perfect song! It’s a very thought-provoking song and can be interpreted in many different ways; my take on it is there is an exponential decay of today’s society and our psyche. Because of this, nothing matters. “See the man who stands upon the hill // He dreams of all the battles won // But, fate had left its scars upon his face // With all the damage they had done.” You could be the greatest person to ever live… but once the dust settles, you become part of that dust. My Chemical Romance was once seen as one of the greatest rock bands of their time. With their hiatus, they realize the decay of everything, including their fame.
“He was there the day the towers fell // And so, he wandered down the road // And, we would all build towers of our own // Only to watch the rooms corrode,” Gerard Way sings. Way was in New York and witnessed the towers fall on 9/11 — a tragic event that really made him want to change the world through music. My Chemical Romance actually started because of it. He wanted to “build towers” around the world and make safe spaces for fans with their music.
Feeling as though it was easier said than done and possible letting people down, those towers eroded and thus, decayed.
Gerard Way seems to tap into some dark metal vocals in the breakdown, which makes sense, seeing as he recently collaborated with Trivium’s Matt Heafy on his Ibaraki project (stay tuned for more info on that!). On the song, “Rönin”, Way screams in a way that I’ve never heard him scream before: he comes out of nowhere and delivers these insane black metal screams! I’m hoping that we’ll get a little bit more of that Way on this new My Chem album. An emo/dark metal crossover would be so sick!
It’s already been two years since My Chemical Romance played their big reunion show at The Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles. They were set out to go on their reunion tour shortly after that but, of course, the pandemic came and ruined those plans. That tour got pushed back till 2021, until it was once again postponed… until now. Their reunion tour officially starts later this week in the UK before it returns to the U.S. in August. My Chemical Romance will also be headlining Riot Fest and the first-ever When We Were Young Festival presented by Goldenvoice later this year! What’s your take on this song? Let us know in the comments below!
Purchase or stream “The Foundations of Decay” single:
My Chemical Romance – “The Foundations of Decay”
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