Fall Out Boy – American Beauty/American Psycho

Fall Out Boy released a greatest hits collection back in 2009, beginning a hiatus that lasted over 3 years. The different band members went their separate ways during the break, with frontman Patrick Stump releasing his first solo album, Soul Punk. The future of Fall Out Boy was unclear, but in early 2013, the band made a surprise comeback to the delight of their eager fans. In one day, the band released a brand new single, announced their album Save Rock And Roll, and announced a tour in support of their new 5th album.

Save Rock And Roll, released in April 2013, represented a noticeable shift in musical style, with a lot more pop and dance elements than before. But it sounded fresh, and was met with unexpected but welcome enthusiasm. Fall Out Boy was back, and was bigger than they had been when they called it quits in 2009. It was a great comeback, and the band received deserved praise and attention.

In the midst of all the Save Rock And Roll success, though, Fall Out Boy already started writing new songs in the first half of 2014. The process was quick, and by the end of 2014, Fall Out Boy had release 4 new songs and announced their new album.

American Beauty/American Psycho will be released on January 20, 2015. It features the singles “Centuries” and “American Beauty/American Psycho,” along with the songs “Immortals,” “The Kids Aren’t Alright,” and “Irresistible.”

 

Writing New Music

In early June 2014, bassist Pete Wentz sat down for an interview with Billboard, and revealed that Fall Out Boy had begun working on the follow-up to Save Rock And Roll. Right before the interview began, Pete had “just [been] working on new material with lead vocalist Patrick Stump,” and he had a lot to say about that new music:

We’re writing. I was just listening to something Patrick had written in the trailer. So we’re writing, finishing out the album cycle in South Africa in September and then I feel like the great thing about what internet culture has morphed into, we were goofing around with this weird French producer the other day just for the heck of it. And I feel like you can just put out whatever and as long as it’s authentic to who you are. It can be singles or an EP, it’s just whatever you want.

Even more exciting, Pete said they aimed to have the new music released by the end of 2014:

I feel like it has to be before the end of the year. But we haven’t set a date yet or what it’s going to be like. I feel like you can just put out songs that you care about now.

Fall Out Boy is experienced at releasing music quickly and in a variety of formats. Although the band released their full-length 5th album, Save Rock And Roll, in April2013, only 6 months later they released a punk throwback EP called PAX AM Days.

Fans would be happy to hear Fall Out Boy’s new music later this year, whatever the format. You can read more from Pete’s interview at Billboard.

 

“Centuries”

In late August, rumors of a new single appeared online. According to Fuel Your Speakers, Fall Out Boy was set to release a song called “Centuries” in September, the supposed lead single from their upcoming 6th studio album. The album was expected to be released in late 2014 or early 2015.

Music insider Toby Knapp tweeted about the song earlier in the summer:

And that’s not all – Fall Out Boy was also shooting a Roman themed music video. You can see a casting call below, asking for actors of various ages and races:

Centuries Casting

It turns out this was all true. On September 4th, Fall Out Boy suddenly blacked out their social media, using a blank black square as their profile picture on Facebook. They then updated a mysterious 6-second video with nothing but morse code beeps.

Some smart fans were able to decipher the code: “Centuries.” At midnight it was all revealed – Fall Out Boy was releasing a new single called “Centuries” on Monday, September 8th.

The single came as promised, along with a hard-to-watch video:

Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz introduced the song at BBC’s Radio 1 with Zane Lowe. It’s an anthemic, larger-than-life song that borrows from Suzanne Vega’s 1980s hit, “Tom’s Diner.”Labelmate LOLO sang the memorable “do-do do-do-do-do” hook that appears in the track. It’s a kind of an ironic juxtaposition – whereas “Tom’s Diner” focuses on one simple day of someone stopping for coffee at a restaurant, Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries” tackles hundreds of years’ worth of remembrance and legends. It takes the minimalism and makes it grandiose.

Pete Wentz talked about the song in a new interview:

Our band came from the suburbs of Chicago. The blandest place. Nothing comes out of there, no one would have ever said that a rock band would come out of there and go on to play arenas. “Centuries” goes back to that David versus Goliath idea. Even U2 had to start somewhere! For the most part, a lot of legendary tales start from humble beginnings. People tend to forget that. When you’re talking to kids who play guitar or DJ, people can be so dismissive. The expectation is that the kid should conform, because people are obsessed with the status quo. Change terrifies a lot of us. “Centuries” really bangs on that. It’s like, just because you’re being told that what you’re doing sucks, that you’re weird or whatever, that doesn’t mean that you’re not a leader, creating something new. Leaders attract a lot of arrows, you know?

But that’s not all! “Centuries” wasn’t just a one-off single. Fall Out Boy was getting ready to release their 6th studio album in just a few months. They were still writing and recording, but planned to have the album done and out by early 2015. As Pete described:

The way things usually evolve with us… we’ll write a bunch of stuff, and when it gets cooking, we’ll bring it to a simmer! When things really start happening, we want to get some momentum building. We’re always writing. With “Centuries,” we were on the Monumentour with Paramore, Patrick [Stump, frontman] came forward with the song, and it just seemed very timely. It felt like the time to really get things going, and we’ve had the pedal to the metal as far as writing goes. So in a sense, the song created its own timeline. It’s not like we have an album done yet or anything. The way the song came out was very feral. We just had to build a plan around it. Now we’ve got to finish writing the album, and go on to record it.

We don’t have an exact timetable yet. I mean, I have a two-week old son and Patrick has a baby on the way in October, so there’s a lot going on. The thing that we’ve done is… we’re basically like Tuscan Raiders, Sand People from Star Wars. We’re very mobile, our families are very mobile, and our kids can go on tour with us every summer. I don’t think that’s necessarily an issue. The other thing is that we still care about albums. I don’t think that pop culture is at a place where as a whole, it cares about new contemporary albums, but our fanbase definitely does. They really care about bodies of work, and that’s something we still aspire to. My guess is 2015 – very early 2015 – for an album. And that’s absolutely the goal; we won’t just be putting out songs, there will be an album.

Patrick and Pete both stopped by KROQ to talk about “Centuries” and the next album further:

Finally, Pete shared a little about his goals for Fall Out Boy’s 6th album:

I want us to be the biggest rock band on the planet. At the moment, people seem to put rock bands into one of two groups. Either you’re dinosaurs waiting for the meteor cloud to wipe you away, or you’re not a ‘real’ rock band, you’re considered to be some sort of sham. I want to cut through the noise of those, to be a rock band that can be played on the radio, who can play these big shows, but also inspire kids to pick up guitars.

 

“Immortals”

On October 13, 2014, Fall Out Boy released another new song: “Immortals” was written for the new Disney movie, Big Hero 6. The song was inspired by the Marvel comic book heroes, and was already available on iTunes. You can also check out this fancy video here:

After hearing both “Centuries” and “Immortals,” it sounds like Fall Out Boy has a theme in their new music, right? They’re covering huge expanses of time in just a few minutes of alternative pop music. Perhaps this will be a recurring motif in their forthcoming 6th album. That record likely won’t be released until early next year, but these songs promise big things in the new music!

Big Hero 6 hits theaters on November 7th, but you can get “Immortals” on iTunes right now. There is no confirmation yet, but it’s likely that the song will be included on Fall Out Boy’s upcoming 6th album.

 

The Roman-Themed Video for “Centuries”

After weeks of building anticipation, Fall Out Boy finally released a music video for their new single “Centuries” on October 17, 2014. And as promised, it had a Roman theme:

“Centuries” is fun storytelling video, complete with fear, uncertainty, and triumph, and all at monumental proportions.

 

“American Beauty/American Psycho”

On November 24th, Fall Out Boy surprised their eager fans – not just with a new single, but also with the announcement of their upcoming 6th studio album! Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 offered the world premier of Fall Out Boy’s brand new single, “American Beauty/American Psycho.”

The song was compared to The Cars, the American rock band that was popular in the ’70s and ’80s. Indeed, “American Beauty/American Psycho” has an uptempo, slightly old school rock sound but with some more dancey and modern qualities. It’s very different from their song “Centuries,”and one that you’re sure to love.

“American Beauty/American Psycho” is set to be released on December 8th, and came from the upcoming album of the same name. It will be possible to pre-order American Beauty/American Psycho on December 15th, and it will be released on January 20th worldwide.

During Radio 1’s premiere of the new single, bassist Pete Wentz described Fall Out Boy’s evolution a bit. He said that before Fall Out Boy “went left when everyone expected us to go right,” but this time around, their new material hits both sides of the fence. Their upcoming album has songs that are both on the “right” and the “left” – whether you like “Centuries” or “American Beauty/American Psycho,” you’ll be able to find plenty of songs to enjoy.

Pete also described how “the problem with modern rock is that it’s not modern at all.” Fall Out Boy wanted to solve this and come up with music that is identifiably rock, but also a more modern version of rock.

You can read Fall Out Boy’s press release about American Beauty/American Psycho below:

On December 15th, Fall Out Boy released the music video for “American Beauty/American Psycho” – check it out below. If you like ballet, fight scenes, and rabid dogs, you’ll definitely enjoy this:

 

“The Kids Aren’t Alright” + the American Beauty/American Psycho Tracklist and Cover Art

December 15, 2014 was a big day for Fall Out Boy. In addition to the “American Beauty/American Psycho” music video, they also released a new song called “The Kids Aren’t Alright.” It came with the iTunes pre-order of the new album.

This one is a little slower than the previously released singles. “The Kids Aren’t Alright” has a whistling refrain and high vocals, but the pulsing energy gives this ballad strength that matches the other new songs. Listen to it now:

The fun doesn’t stop there: Fall Out Boy also unveiled the full track listing for American Beauty/American Psycho! Check it out:

  1. Irresistible
  2. American Beauty/American Psycho
  3. Centuries
  4. The Kids Aren’t Alright
  5. Uma Thurman
  6. Jet Pack Blues
  7. Novacaine
  8. Fourth Of July
  9. Favorite Record
  10. Immortals
  11. Twin Skeleton’s (Hotel In NYC)

Read about what Fall Out Boy had to say about American Beauty/American Psycho and its cover art:

American Beauty/American Psycho comes out on January 20th, but you can pre-order it on iTunes now and get four new songs instantly. You can also pre-order it on Fall Out Boy’s official store and get some cool CD bundles.

American Beauty/American Psycho Album Cover Fall Out Boy

 

Lyrics Matching Game

On December 18th, Fall Out Boy came up with a fun matching game for fans. They shared some song lyrics from 7 of their new songs (all of which we have not heard yet).

Check out the bits of lyrics in the 7 pictures below. Which song titles do you think match the different lyrics?

If you need a refresher on the song titles, here they are. The bolded titles are the ones not yet released.

  1. Irresistible
  2. American Beauty/American Psycho
  3. Centuries
  4. The Kids Aren’t Alright
  5. Uma Thurman
  6. Jet Pack Blues
  7. Novacaine
  8. Fourth Of July
  9. Favorite Record
  10. Immortals
  11. Twin Skeleton’s (Hotel In NYC)

 

“Immortals” Music Video and Alternate Version

On December 24th, Fall Out Boy finally released a music video for “Immortals.” It includes scenes from the Marvel comic inspired movie as well as live footage of the band performing the song. Check it out:

On the same day, Fall Out Boy also confirmed that the version of “Immortals” on their new album will be different from that featured in the Big Hero 6 movie and music video. It will be exciting to hear an alternate version of the song!

 

“Irresistible”

On January 5, 2015, Fall Out Boy unleashed yet another new song from American Beauty/ American Psycho. “Irresistible” is an uptempo track that’s more pop than rock. It has plenty of singalong whoas and ays, backed by a horn refrain. The only thing that slows down “Irresistible” is the lovely piano breakdown just before the choruses.  This is a song that gets better with each listen. Check it out below:

You can read what Fall Out Boy had to say about “Irresistible” when they introduced it last night:

Considering that they’ve stuck true to their promise of new music on January 5th, we can expect another new track ahead of the album release next week:

 

“Uma Thurman”

On January 12th, Fall Out Boy released another new song from their upcoming album, American Beauty/American Psycho. “Uma Thurman” is an interesting song, and a bit of a mixed bag, and it quickly became one of our favorites from the new record. It has twists and turns, as the instrumentation and tempo change from verse to chorus to bridge. It sounds exotic at parts, yet familiar in other parts. (It expertly samples The Munsters, so that may explain that!) Hear it for yourself:

“Uma Thurman” is a great song, and one that made us even more excited for the whole album. Here’s what bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz had to say about “Uma Thurman” –

American Beauty / American Psycho Is Released

American Beauty/American Psycho finally came out on January 20, 2015. It combines the punk and soul influences of early Fall Out Boy with their more recent pop anthemic sound. American Beauty/American Psycho has been blasting out of our speakers since it came out! Check out our review of the album here.

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