My Chemical Romance Dropped Their First Tune In Years So The 00s Revival Is Well & Truly Here
By Courtney Fry
Published May 13, 2022
It’s safe to say the full experience of the 2000s is back because My Chemical Romance have released new music. Why is this a huge deal? Because it’s the first new music we’ve been given from the kings of 00s emo since 2014. To say we’ve been deprived is an understatement.
That’s eight whole years without the deep yearning angst of Gerard Way‘s voice screaming out pure poetry backed by the roaring instrumentals of Mikey Way, Frank Iero, and Ray Toro.
Thee boys are back in town, and in a damn big way. They’ve kicked down the doors of the 00s revival and unleashed a whopping six-minute single called “The Foundations Of Decay”.
The boys. The lads. The absolute lords of dramatic emo — they’re back babey.
It’s Friday the 13th and we are leaning all the way in.
Take a quick break from life to close your eyes and let this wash over you. Feel those goosebumps. Check in on your emo friends because I can assure you we are… not okay. Trust me.
As someone who was deep in the emo paint (black eyeliner and jeans tighter than a vice’s grip), listening to the first notes of a new track from one of the titans of the time is incomparable to anything else.
Even after all these years, it unlocks something deep in my soul that I can’t quite explain. There’s a swelling in my chest knowing that a community I found comfort and identity in as a teen is having a strong renaissance now I’m at a very different place in my life.
“The Foundations Of Decay” feels like My Chemical Romance returning to their roots with a new lens. There are years of life and experience under their belts now and it shows.
9/11 references. catholicism. sick breakdown. screaming. incomprehensible vocal delivery. my chemical romance is BACK BABYYYYYYY
— bea 🫣 (@narrowstairs) May 12, 2022
did it hurt? when my chemical romance released an absolute banger out of nowhere and made us all go completely insane?
— kaz ✘ (@ourphantoms) May 12, 2022
I’m almost 26 and there’s just something about new My Chemical Romance content that makes me just break down and go absolutely feral, it’s like i’m 14 again
— self-identified emo (@ThyArtIsMemes2) May 12, 2022
It’s like they’ve plucked elements of their different albums — and eras — and folded them all into a much more mature production.
The unruly angst of I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love is in Gerard’s aggressive throats. The theatrics of Three Cheers and the polished “My Chem” sound of The Black Parade is woven throughout the track. The tight work of Danger Days seeps through — proving that despite a lengthy hiatus, the My Chemical Romance machine is as well-oiled as ever.
The ever-present ferocity of the New Jersey outfit is undoubtedly simmering away, and I feel like we’re yet to fully experience it on the boil. Like a dog with a muzzle, this new track shows they’ve still got their bite but are able to reserve themselves and pull it back to a snarled bark to keep the pace in a six-minute return.
If this is the first taste of a new era of the godfathers of modern emo, I can’t wait to see what the full meal is going to look like.
Image: Getty Images / Theo Wargo
