the foundation of decay
yes it comforts me too
honestly I never expected My Chemical Romance to release new music after disbanding in 2013. it just seemed like they had accomplished everything they needed to and wanted to as a band. Danger Days sold a shit ton of records but never really caught the same fever that the band’s previous two albums did (which isn’t surprising because fuck those albums are lightning in a bottle) and the conventional weapons 7 inch series released to little fanfare (even tho it features some of the band’s dopest music). so it made sense when the band ended nine years ago - Gerard Way had the umbrella academy, Frank Iero had his many side projects, etc etc. I mean, it was shocking enough that they even reunited to play some shows (a reunion that is finally happening this summer after the pandemic-induced delay).
So I thought i was being pranked when the tweet announcing a new song “the foundation of decay” showed up in the timeline. Are we sure this isn’t just another makeup collection? And not only the band’s first new release since 2014 (“fake your death” the only song to feature James Dewees as a member of the band - remember that?), it was also six minutes long. the fucking audacity to come back with a 6 minute single and then all 6 minutes just absolutely whip - only My Chemical Romance.
Anyways, I didn’t get to listen to the track till roughly after an hour it was released since I was in the middle of some other shit. so I queued it up in my car for the drive home and proceeded to listen to it 5 times in a row. an absolute heater. the opening chords set the tone in a way that latter-day Thursday would begin their anthems (think city by the light divided) and launches into an absolute all-time great chorus (the build is reminiscent of the underrated Black Parade track “Sleep”). like it’s wildly unfair how good this band is - to just drop a top 10 MCR chorus after nearly a decade of radio silence? And we haven’t even gotten to that breakdown at 3:10.
Ray Toro and Iero just opening up the pit like it’s nothing. And Way’s vocals - straight up Bullets vibes. And all that is what makes this such an instant classic My Chem track - it lightly harkens back to all their previous eras while keeping it fresh with Doug McKean’s production (I personally love how Way’s vocals are produced in the mix - really drives home the point of “it comforts me much more to lay in the foundations of decay.”
Not only was never expecting new music from My Chemical Romance, never in my wildest dreams did I expect it to be this good - like I shouldn’t be shocked because My Chemical Romance is a fucking great rock band and have really never released anything “bad” per se. but we’ve been burned by so many other “legacy” bands coming back from long hiatuses so it’s more a general feeling of waiting to be disappointed that any exception MCR ever set. And the cool thing - at least to me - is that this doesn’t sound like a legacy band resting on their laurels to just release an one-off single - I mean if you’re looking to cash in commercially you don’t release a 6-minute (at times) mid-tempo rock and roll song in 2022 (this was not made for TikTok lol) (I’ll probably be proven wrong tho - if there’s one band that could make a track that sounds like this a TikTok sensation it’s My Chemical Romance).
so I guess the lesson as always is to never say never (I mean saetia and sunny day real estate are also returning to shows in 2022 - like what?) - who knows what the future steps of MCR are - I am hoping this is the beginning of a new album but if not and this is the last music we get from the band then goddamn what a way to go out.
in between listens of “the foundations of decay” I was thinking about my own history with the band and what the albums meant and still mean to me today and I kept going back to some of the final lyrics on “I Never Told You What I Do For A Living” from the breakthrough Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge - “And we'll love again, we'll laugh again We'll cry again, and we'll dance again.” That’s what it feels like right now - I don’t care that I’m closer to 40 than 18 these days - I’m still excited to absolutely lose my shit when we see the band live this summer. and “the foundations of decay” has only increased that anticipation one million times.