Fall Out Boy are back and better than ever!
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Fall Out Boy’s last album MANIA was met with less than favorable reviews, as the band appeared to add an EDM spin to their usual pop punk sound. However, after a mini hiatus following the album drop in 2018, it would appear the boys are back and better than ever.
Right from the get-go, Love From The Other Side is intriguing. With a half a minute long orchestral section at the start of the song, it provokes the idea of new beginnings, as you cannot be sure what will follow. However, once the guitar kicks in, any qualms are squashed as it appears Fall Out Boy are returning to their pre-hiatus sound, before 2008. As expected, the lyrics are laced with metaphors, written by guitarist Pete Wentz but delivered in vocalist Patrick Stump’s iconic voice, where he delivers melisma on the notes as if second nature. Which, while approaching the release of their 8th album, I’m sure it is.
Love from the Other Side’ is the first single from Fall Out Boy’s upcoming album, So Much (for) Stardust (image via Fueled By Ramen)
The lyric “I’d never go, I just want to be invited” proves the boys are back with lines relatable to every awkward kid who first listened to them in their pre-hiatus era. The single talks about love after the apocalypse, going back and forth on the idea of it. What once was “the sunshine of my lifetime” appears to have them “falling in and out of love” before running with the repeated chorus line “every lover has a little dagger in their hand”, a reference to Romeo and Juliet.
Going back to their rebellious ways, the song criticizes the music industry, much like their 2007 hit This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race where they compare the industry to an arms race, not caring whichever side wins as long as money is made. In Love From The Other Side they compare the music industry to a “rat race”, which there is no way out of once you are on “the hamster wheel”. However the “other side of the apocalypse” suggests they are over this want for commercial success and they just want to make music. It has also been theorized that “the apocalypse” may represent MANIA, being perhaps what they thought could sell, but they are returning to what they want to make, “the other side”, after MANIA.
The music video for the track features Pete Wentz dressed as a grandfather, telling a bedtime story to his granddaughter. This perhaps shows the band’s age, as they have been together since 2001, with it being 20 years since their debut album Take This To Your Grave this year. The story details a band that visits emo island and uses their music to fight the bad guys before revealing the grandfather is one of the band’s original members. Using their music as a force for the good isn’t a new theme, as in 2013 they released the album Save Rock and Roll alongside a musical film entitled The Young Blood Chronicles, where they aim to save rock and roll on Earth.
via Elliot Ingham
This return to their late 2000s sound doesn’t appear to be a throwback, but a continuation of what could have happened if they hadn’t taken a hiatus. This going back to their old roots, after Folie à Deux, is a far cry from MANIA, one that the fans are certainly welcoming. With Paramore awaiting the release of their new album in February and My Chemical Romance reuniting and touring for the first time since 2012, Fall Out Boy’s new album So Much (For) Star Dust is contributing to the revival in pop punk music. A second coming of emo perhaps? I certainly hope so.
Love From The Other Side is out now via Fueled By Ramen, check out the video here:
