My Chemical Romance have returned with the surprise release of new song ‘The Foundations Of Decay’. Check it out below.
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The reunited emo legends are set to kick off a UK and European tour next week, including massive shows in Milton Keynes with Placebo With Fever and more. Before those big concerts, the band shared their first new material in eight years with the song ‘The Foundations Of Decay’.
The song begins as a slow-burning, emotional number, with frontman Gerard Way softly singing: “Look at the man on the hill, he dreams of all the battles won / but fate had left its scars on his face, with all the damage they had done..”
The hypnotic, progressive track then builds to a subtle emo crescendo. During the six-minute epic, Way also appears to comment on the 9/11 attacks, having previously discussed how this led to the formation of My Chemical Romance.
In the new song, Way sings: “And he was there, the day the towers fell / And so he wandered down the road / And we’d all build our own towers / Just to watch the roots corrode / But it’s too late / You’re on the run / So we’ll push / And We’ll push until you can’t anymore.”
“Starting Mychem was a direct result of everything we experienced and witnessed during those horrific events,” Way previously wrote of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. “The world changed that day, and the next day we set out to try to change the world.
“Mychem has always been bigger than its parts. Even when the band took time off, MCRmy was there spreading the word and living the message of “Stay Alive!” Today we are collectively older and wiser, but we are still there to carry on when we hear the call. The last 20 years have been about healing, dusting off and getting back up, and living life to our fullest potential. On this monumental anniversary, let us all think of those we lost that day and the days after. Keep those loved ones close and their memories alive by thinking “what do you wish we were doing today?”
He continued: “Proudly living and breathing our true authentic selves? Be kind and compassionate to each other? Be creative, unique and extraordinary? Maybe just trying to be better than you were yesterday?
“We have found that when in doubt, love is and always will be the answer. Thank you for showing us love and for walking by our side these past 20 years. We truly are stronger together and grateful that you are here with us. Romantically yours, MCR. ”
Fans are now speculating if the band’s upcoming reunion shows will come with more new songs and maybe a fourth album.
The band’s last new material came in 2014 with ‘Fake Your Own Death’, previously described as the band’s “eulogy” following their split the previous year.
“I consider ‘Fake Your Death’ to be the ‘last MCR song,’ and to me it is absolutely the final fully realized collaboration between the band members,” Way wrote at the time. “What was not so obvious at the time was that the song was and would serve as a eulogy for the band, although I should have known from the lyrics. I think internally I did, as I felt a strange sense of sadness and loss after hearing the words over the music.”
He continued, “I also felt a strange sense of pride at how honest he was, and I couldn’t remember a band recording a song of this nature, being so self-aware. The ending feels like something honest, and honesty always feels like something new. Then it will exist, and it is not a cowardly act to release something of this nature, but a service to those who believed in a band that did not commit, and a farewell to all. And yeah, it’s fucking heartbreaking.”
Remaining tickets for MCR’s MK concerts, as well as their other UK and Ireland dates this month, are still on sale here. You can see the band’s upcoming tour dates below.
May
16 – Eden Sessions, St. Austell
19 – MK Stadium, Milton Keynes
21 – MK Stadium, Milton Keynes
22 – MK Stadium, Milton Keynes
24 – Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin
25 – Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin
27 – Victoria Park, Warrington
28 – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
30 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
Visit here for more details on My Chemical Romance’s upcoming tour dates in Europe, Australia, Asia and the US.
MCR played a historic reunion concert in December 2019 in Los Angeles, before most of their other comeback dates were postponed due to the pandemic.
In a five-star review of the concert, NME noted: “There were tears, oh, there were a lot of tears. It was physically impossible to stand in that room and not understand to the core of your being why this band means so much to so many people.”