Gerard Way Drops Four New Solo Songs

The MCR singer dropped the news songs over the weekend.

While we all wait for the My Chemical Romance reunion tour that has been put on hold due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, MCR singer Gerard Way is making things a little easier with a four-song solo EP he dropped over the weekend called Distraction or Disrepair.

“Hey all, with all this uncertainty I just wanted to start uploading some unreleased stuff,” he wrote on Sunday (April 5). “Just so people can check it out and have something to listen to. Just felt like sharing. I think I have a bunch of this stuff, as Doug and I have been recording little bits here and there over the years. Some of these, like ‘Phoning It In,’ were things that I planned on releasing as singles, and I may still do that at some point when I finish them, but I figured why not. It feels good to share. Who knows if some of this stuff would have ever come out?”

The songs range from the 14-second vocal sound collage “Success!” and the blown-out 40-second sound assault “Welcome to the Hotel” to the blown-out, distorted guitar jam “Crate Amp_2” (“messing around with this Crate amp I got off of Reverb for cheap”) and what “Phoning,” the most complete song in the bunch.

It definitely sounds like the most polished of the bunch, with a driving beat and swaggering vocal, in which Way sings, “Some folks make hasty decisions They live their life on the go/ I can’t be bothered to give a damn bout anything and/ Some people say I’m a pro/ You’re busy climbing the ladder, I’m busy lying in bed/ It doesn’t matter if anybody calls me names and/ I’m gonna f–k off instead, because… We’re gonna phone it in, we’re gonna phone it in.”

Way, who asked fans to contribute to the COVID-19 Response Fund, also posted an Instagram pic of his vocal cord from when he went to see an ear, nose & throat doctor before embarking on the MCR reboot to make sure everything was okay. “He said, ‘It’s a little red, but looking good.’ I’m calling all of this stuff Distraction Or Despair, since that seems to be the two things I keep shifting between. Probably a lot of other people too. But I think only some of the tracks are tied to an ‘album’ of that name. I’m just winging it, keeping it casual. May add some notes to the tracks.”

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Hey all, with all this uncertainty I just wanted to start uploading some unreleased stuff. Just so people can check it out and have something to listen to. Just felt like sharing. I think I have a bunch of this stuff, as Doug and I have been recording little bits here and there over the years. Some of these, like Phoning It In, were things that I planned on releasing as singles, and I may still do that at some point when I finish them, but I figured why not. It feels good to share. Who knows if some of this stuff would have ever come out? Oh yeah, the music is on my soundcloud, which I haven’t really used in ages. The link is in my linktree, along with a link to the Covid-19 Response Fund. In case you are wondering, this is a picture of my vocal cords, from when I went to see the ear/nose/throat doc before embarking on this my chem journey, to make sure everything was in order. He said, “It’s a little red, but looking good”. I’m calling all of this stuff Distraction Or Despair, since that seems to be the two things I keep shifting between. Probably a lot of other people too. But I think only some of the tracks are tied to an “album” of that name. I’m just winging it, keeping it casual. May add some notes to the tracks. Hope everyone is safe and healthy. Rock on.

A post shared by Gerard Way (@gerardway) on Apr 4, 2020 at 2:19pm PDT