His life as an illustrator has always run side by side with his bombastic life with My Chem, and the fire that drove both lives very much in the soundtrack to his life. 2015, During his recent tour with Soundwaveīefore Gerard made music, he made comics. This article originally appeared in the Oct.4 issue of Billboard. It’s a largely smooth transition out of the dark and into the bright world of pop - even if the sneered request to “give me teenage razors” on “Zero Zero” is enough to remind you that you can take the man out of My Chemical Romance, but you can’t take the My Chemical Romance out of the man. His storied themes of love and pain pop up throughout Hesitant Alien like embarrassing Facebook statuses. The music is more subdued than My Chemical Romance’s, but Way’s still not as understated as the influencers he’s channeling. Way’s ear for melody means plenty of huge hooks, from the post-hardcore bent of “Juarez” to “Get the Gang Together,” which borrows directly from Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker‘s cache of cool.
Gerard Way Forgets My Chemical Romance, Goes Full ’80s in New ‘No Shows’ VideoĪs with every Way project, it’s slick and expensive sounding, with smart styling that leads fans into new territory while maintaining the best parts of his dramatic songwriting.
It’s the Pulp album the world didn’t know it needed. On the LP, which comes in the wake of My Chemical Romance’s 2013 breakup, Way ages out of arena teen-rock and graduates to the glossy muscle of Britpop. Those looking for a “Helena,” or a return to the opera-rock of My Chemical Romance‘s 2006 winner The Black Parade, on former MCR lead singer Gerard Way‘s solo debut, Hesitant Alien, should keep the receipt. 23.Following Review on Hesitant Alien from Billboard STORY My Chemical Romance Debuts Final Song ‘Fake Your Death’ (Video)įans will get their first listen of some of the songs on Hesitant Alien when Way performs his first solo shows at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in England. There was no concept and no call-to-arms.” I also experimented with the abstract, and looked at Frank Black‘s work both with the Pixies, and as a solo artist. “I looked to the Britpop poets like Jarvis Cocker and Damon Albarn, drawing upon everyday life. Way wrote lyrics about what he knew at the time, “which was struggle, beginnings, finding a newness in the mundane and the abstract,” he says. I want the record to sonically galvanize people.” Hesitant Alien was mixed by veteran Tchad Blake (Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys). I knew I would look at who my guitar heroes were in art school, Mary Timony and Carrie Brownstein, and I drew a lot of influence from shoegaze and Britpop. I knew there would be lots of fuzz pedals. “My intention was to make 100 percent uncompromised art, using the currently least radio-friendly instrument, the guitar. “I wanted to make the small things sound big,” he says. Working with producer Doug McKean, Way knew immediately what he wanted the new effort to sound like. The music video for “No Shows” also will be released Aug.
Fans who preorder the album will receive the track “No Shows” instantly as a free download. Exclusive album bundles also will be available for preorder on that same day. The new solo album will be available for preorder at all digital retailers beginning Tuesday, Aug.
A greatest-hits collection, May Death Never Stop You, came out last March.
My Chemical Romance broke up March 22, 2013, one month after the final release in the Conventional Weapons series, which culminated in a series of singles released over the course of five months. PHOTOS Fall Out Boy ‘Saves Rock and Roll’ in Los Angeles Former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way will release his debut solo album, Hesitant Alien, on Sept.