The emos are on the rise again. My Chemical Romance toured last year, Paramore and Pierce The Veil announced new albums coming next month, Brendon Urie continues to drag Panic! At The Disco’s good name down with him and my beloved Fall Out Boy is back. Following 2018’s MANIA was some considerable backlash from diehard Fall Out Boy fans. Many dissed the band’s experimentation with a synth-pop sound, saying they missed the old Fall Out Boy.

Don’t get me wrong — MANIA had some bangers like “Church” and “Heaven’s Gate,” but it just didn’t feel the same as their pre-hiatus work. Maybe it’s just because I’m getting older and I miss how I felt when Save Rock and Roll came out — good lord, I was 11. But, regardless, Fall Out Boy listened to their fans — and guitarist Joe Trohman, as revealed in his recent memoir — and returned to their roots with their upcoming project, So Much (For) Stardust. 

So Much (For) Stardust’s lead single, “Love From The Other Side,” was released Jan. 18 following weeks of cryptic social media posts from the band. I’ve personally listened to it about 50 times since its release and let me just say: I’ve never been more excited for an album based on a single. “Love From The Other Side” is the gritty, guitar-heavy song fans have been craving from Fall Out Boy.

The song opens with a one-minute orchestral arrangement before it punches you in the face with a guitar riff. The goosebumps I felt in the transition from classical to rock were insane. The lyrics begin with a picture of a dream life crumbling before your eyes, your expectations collapsing inward:

“Model house life meltdown still a modern dream letdown, it kills me /

You know I’m dying out here /

What would you trade the pain for? /

I’m not sure.”

The motif “What would you trade the pain for?” is repeated throughout the song, sometimes answered by an “I’m not sure,” sometimes left with no answer at all. This repetition seems to cement the fact that while the life the singer leads brings them anguish, they don’t know any other way to live.

The chorus is both catchy and complex. As the guitar swells to meet the chorus, singer Patrick Stump’s powerhouse vocals come through a cacophony of percussion:

“Sending my love from the other side of the apocalypse /

And I just about snapped, don’t look back /

Every lover’s got a little dagger in their hand.”

It’s been stuck in my head for a couple weeks, as the chorus is the only snippet Fall Out Boy released on Jan. 11. The high note Stump hits on “back” just scratches this itch in my brain that I can’t truly describe. It’s just — chef’s kiss — beautiful.

This song, from my individual perspective, seems to be about losing someone to a lifestyle you can’t escape but remaining in love with them. You want to reach out to them, from the other side of your personal apocalypse, but you’re afraid of how they might see you now. Lyrics like “But there’s no way off the hamster wheel on this rat race” and “Give up what you love before it does you in” confirm this for me, the latter being a warning echo to the past self.

Fall Out Boy’s So Much (For) Stardust is slated for release on March 24. Until then, you can catch me looping this song until my phone dies. If you want to enjoy it normally, you can stream “Love From The Other Side” wherever you get your music. The emo trinity lives again.