by Kate Hedrick
Opinion Editor
The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.
On May 13th, 2022, American rock band My Chemical Romance (often shortened to My Chem or simply MCR) made their surprise comeback after an 8 year musical hiatus. They released a new single titled ‘The Foundations of Decay’. The song is a 6 minute ballad just as dark, dramatic, and hard-hitting as the work they put out sixteen years earlier on ‘The Black Parade’ (2006), widely considered their magnum opus. It would be easy to presume that eight years of inactivity would lead to a decline in the quality of their work, but Foundations proves this line of thinking entirely wrong.
This release was not entirely unprecedented. Ever since MCR announced their reunion tour in 2019, fans have been wondering if they would be releasing new music. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the band to postpone the rest of the tour until 2022. The tour recently picked up again in England, with ‘The Foundations Of Decay’ first on the setlist. The song was released only six days before the tour began.
My Chemical Romance fans are, understandably, ecstatic to see their favorite band touring and producing music once again. When asked how she felt about the reunion and the new song, Anna Kellar (11) simply said “I love it.” A very succinct (and very accurate) summary of the overall reaction from the band’s fanbase.
For many, this is a surreal moment. MCR broke up all the way back in 2013 and were separated until 2019, meaning that almost all of their teenage fans got into them after the split. Al Hessler (11), having been a fan from a very young age, shares this sentiment: “I’m really excited. I’ve been waiting for new music since I was literally in elementary school, so it’s kind of a fever dream that they’re actually touring and putting out music.” Safe to say, fans are more than excited to see what the band does next.