“I had no plans on making an album,” Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie told Entertainment Weekly. “I was just inviting my friends over to my house, and I was like, ‘Let’s just work on tracks and see what happens.”
He was talking about the process of writing Pray for the Wicked, the new album that released today. And the process shows as you listen to the album, it definitely sounds like a collaboration. This isn’t a bad thing, it just means what resulted is something extremely eclectic. Which is fitting for a Panic! album, after all their debut A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out was deliberately split in half, opening with songs influenced by modern dance pop and suddenly switching into a sound akin to The Dresden Doll’s trademark “punk cabaret” sound. The band has also played with more traditional pop punk, guitar rock and of course that “Beatles and Folk Rock” phase.
The songs that hit are bullseyes. The lead single, "Say Amen (Saturday Night)" is a banger and the follow-up single, “Look Ma, I Made It” borrows gleefully and successfully from Purple Rain era Prince. Other high points include the previously leaked “(F*ck a) Silver Lining” and “High Hopes,” as well as “King of the Clouds,” which sounds like a mildly distorted 90’s R&B hit. But the biggest moment may be “Dying In LA,” a piano-driven ballad that nods towards “Round Here” by the Counting Crows (probably not a total coincidence, Panic! has covered the song live).
But some of the other tracks feel almost too gimmicky for the rest of the album. “Dancing’s Not a Crime” and “One of the Drunks” never quite manage to connect, both are solid songs that leave you with a feeling that their full potential is just out of reach. The most disappointing is “Roaring 20’s,” which provides some great lyrics but loses itself in the performance and phrasing and ill-timed gang vocals.
The album succeeds, though, in part because of the strength of Brendon’s voice and performance. There’s always a theatricality and earnestness to his sound, his voice gives you a feeling of physical performance even when you’re listening to a recording. And no matter what sound Panic is playing with at the time, it’s that voice and the emotion behind it that sells it.
While talking to Radio.com about the album’s religious themes, Brendon went so far as to say music is his religion. So it’s not a stretch to say every time he’s singing, he’s definitely praying. And we, the wicked, will keep showing up to pray with him.
Pray for the Wicked tracklist
- "(Fuck A) Silver Lining"
- "Say Amen (Saturday Night)"
- "Hey Look Ma, I Made It"
- "High Hopes"
- "Roaring 20s"
- "Dancing's Not a Crime"
- "One of the Drunks"
- "The Overpass"
- "King of the Clouds"
- "Old Fashioned"
- "Dying in LA"
