Gerard Way Details Debut Solo Album

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Jul 30, 2014

As previously reported, My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way is about to do something new by issuing his first-ever solo LP. Perhaps somewhat playing up his dip into the unknown, it's been revealed that the record officially lands this fall as Hesitant Alien.

The record arrives September 30 through Warner Bros., and it features 11 new tunes written by Way. According to a statement from the singer-songwriter, the album's lyrics focus on "struggle, beginnings, finding a newness in the mundane and the abstract."

"I looked to the Britpop poets like Jarvis Cocker and Damon Albarn, drawing upon everyday life," Way explained further, adding, "I also experimented with the abstract, and looked at Frank Black's work both with the Pixies, and as a solo artist. There was no concept and no call-to-arms."

While pop trends have brought more and more electronic tones to radio waves, Way's record apparently unabashedly puts the focus on good old six-string licks. Producing the affair was Doug McKean, while Tchad Blake (Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys) was tasked with mixing the LP.

"My intention was to make 100 percent uncompromised art, using the currently least radio-friendly instrument, the guitar. I knew there would be lots of fuzz pedals," Way explained of his dialling up the distortion on Hesitant Alien. "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 shoe-gaze and Britpop. I want the record to sonically galvanize people."

Already, we've heard the album's "Action Cat," while the next preview from the set will be "No Shows." The track will be available August 19 as a free download for fans that pre-order the set through Way's website.

Hesitant Alien:

1. Bureau
2. Action Cat
3. No Shows
4. Casting Shadows
5. Millions
6. Zero Zero
7. Juarez
8. Drugstore Perfume
9. Get The Gang Together
10. How's It Going To Be
11. Maya The Psychic

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