MCR Rises From the Dead on New Single, “The Foundations of Decay”

Last Thursday MCR fans got a surprise they were never expecting — a brand new single entitled, “The Foundations of Decay.”

I’ll admit I was taken aback when I found out that MCR dropped the new single. I thought the era of MCR releasing new music was one that was buried deep in the past. They were done as a band, or at least that’s the message they had been sending out to fans for years. MCR would never come back. And then BAM. New fucking single.

From the very first 20 seconds of the song, I knew it was going to be one epic listen. The very fact that the song clocks in at 6 minutes and one second was also an indicator of this wasn’t some radio ready catchy single for attention, this was music. Music on the level of “Welcome to The Black Parade.” Epic music. And going into my first listen, I was expecting that type of song. But what I heard was MCR like I had never heard them before.

The track opens with sullen melody that haunts the track and sets the pace for a gloomy song about reflection, despair, and coming to terms with things. It’s dystopian. It’s disturbing. It’s classic MCR without being classic MCR. In other words, it’s MCR 2.0. And that is what haunted me (and continued to haunt me) long after my first listen.

MCR has effectively “turned the page” in their musical existence. They’ve grown up a lot during their eight years they were missing in action. And that is reflected in the lyrics. Older and wiser MCR take a cue from Green Day as they provide an allegorical social commentary and some thought provoking discussion on their legacy as a band among other things.

The song’s lyrics depicts a victim of society — a character eerily similar to “The Patient” from The Black Parade era — and their self reflection on what happened to them post the final battle. They’re thinking about things, even contemplating suicide. But in the end (after that maddening rock interlude) they make the decision to get up (“get up, coward” is the final lyric of the song) and go out there and fight. Allegorical much? Oh, this song is teeming with allegory. Teeming with it. In classic MCR fashion, this song is all one big message indicating the band is back. They’ve been a band for 20 years now and they aren’t saying “so long and goodnight” just yet. But they aren’t the same band we all listened to the in the 2000s. This time, they’re older and wiser, and sonically a bit more straight alt rock. Or are they?

MCR certainly takes a bite out of 90s emo on this track, paying homage to artists such as Mineral and Sunny Day Real Estate with their guitar work and slower tempo. But as much as they are paying homage they do it in an updated modern MCR kind of way and with a few twists. Take the mid song rock breakdown. I was not expecting that. But as out of place as it may seem in this, “meh, I’m alone in my thoughts and self reflecting” song, it works! But for the most part, I was definitely getting a lot of 90s emo vibes in the mix. Even feeling a touch of Thursday at one point.

And yet, as refreshing and new as the single is, I can’t help but a few references to their former selves. There’s the battle reference — a reference to the “The Ghost of You” music video and the obvious “Skylines and Turnstiles” references. But this song also feels like the part 2 to “The Only Hope For Me is You”. As if this is song describes what happened “many years after the disaster”. And while the victim is seemingly “not okay” — they actually are.

Maybe I read into things too much. But, however you interpret “The Foundations of Decay”, one thing is for sure, MCR have risen from the ashes again. And while The Black Parade era may be “dead”, the band itself has more life in it than they ever did, and three cheers for that! *