“Pray For the Wicked” is the sixth studio album from Brendon Urie, and Panic! At the Disco. It is a follow up to their first number one album on the Billboard Top 200, “Death of a Bachelor” which released in 2016. Urie said in a series of instagram posts, that the inspiration took off for the album as soon as he returned home from touring with the show “Kinky Boots” on Broadway. As recent as yesterday, July 2nd, “PFTW” has debuted at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart. On the day of its release, June 22nd, 2018, Urie writes on the band’s instagram, “This album surprised the hell out of me. I didn’t expect to have it out right now. I definitely didn’t expect it would have the songs that it does. And I never thought I’d be on album number six. And it’s all thanks to you. Thank you for your constant inspiration and support. We’ve built something incredible together and I’m forever grateful to you for all that you’ve done and continue to do for me.” Brendon Urie has evolved over the last decade from an emo, pop-punk, eyeliner wielding front man, to this suave, jazz era-reminiscent persona.
The first two tracks on the album, “(F*** A) Silver Lining” and “Say Amen (Saturday Night) were the two singles to come from the LP back in March of this year. Both set the tone of the album, which is slightly reminiscent of “Death of a Bachelor” but with all the more sass, and flair that fans have come to expect from Urie. While “DOB” focused more on the high life, and glamour of being a popstar bachelor, “PFTW” hones in more on the unyielding journey of getting to that point. In “Hey Look Ma, I Made It” Urie is directly tipping his hat to his mother, who was concerned when he was younger that he was going to be a starving artist. The lyrics, “’Cause I’m a hooker sellin’ songs / And my pimp’s a record label” are also revealing of the power struggle most singer/songwriters face with their label to constantly put out new content, regardless of quality. As well as the lyrics, “Friends are happy for me / Or they’re honeysuckle phonies / Then they celebrate my medals / Or they wanna take my trophies” recognizes the hardship of losing friends to fame, and the fake ones who only come along after the success. In the song “High Hopes” Urie reflects on his childhood and how he had always hoped for the chance of fulfilling his dreams. On the chorus he sings, “Had to have high, high hopes for a living / Didn’t know how but I always had a feeling / I was gonna be that one in a million”. Even in his youth Brendon had great confidence in his ability to live out his passion, and his motivation clearly paid off for him!
The first ten tracks are a collection of uptempo beats, triumphant horn sections, jazzy synths, and swinging drums. But the final song to close out the album is a stoic piano ballad performed by Urie alone titled, “Dying in LA”. The song tells the tale of the battles of coming to LA and being dazzled by all the allure and the opportunities, only to become worn out by the city over time. On the Zach Sang Show, Urie talks about the contradiction of ending this album with a melancholic timbre, “I think I like just to have that juxtapos[ition]. You need that contrast, at least I do. Whe[n] every song is so high energy, when [every song] is a danceable one, I liked ending a little morose, a little sad.” It shows the dark side of LA that oftentimes is overlooked for the charm of the “City of Angels”.
“Pray For the Wicked” is available now for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. Panic! At the Disco are currently on their U.S. tour with Hayley Kiyoko, and A R I Z O N A, that concludes in their home town of Las Vegas, Nevada on August 18th. They then head out on their European tour the next week of August 25th, and return back to North America with a second tour beginning on January 10th, 2019. The band’s website has a full list of tour dates, as well as updates on the band, and their merch store.
