Sinners, rejoice: Panic! At the Disco's Brendon Urie is back with his sixth studio album, "Pray For The Wicked" and if one thing is clear, it's hat it's the band's most theatrical and confident project yet! It's like Bruno Mars meets 1960s action film: full of glamour, charm, and catchy one-liners.
But from the 11-track album, here are the seven best zingers that will have every Panic! fan saying amen:
1. "I'm a hooker selling songs, and my pimp's a record label" - "Hey Look Ma, I Made It."
The Dillon Francis co-produced the banger that is "Hey Look Ma, I Made It" that appears twice on this list because it is just that catchy and poignant! A tongue-in-cheek reflection on his current success and status, Urie flaunts just how quickly he's churning out hit after hit (three of his singles off his previous album, "Death of a Bachelor" went platinum, with the album hitting platinum in the United States as well). Urie knows just how good the goods he's selling are!
2. "I'm Carl Sagan in space to escape this old world" - "King of the Clouds."
Maybe Brendon should write more lyrics after he's had a little "wake and bake" (as the singer put it in a recent interview). The singer apparently got high out of his mind and started ranting about inter-dimensional travel and Carl Sagan and thus this comedic, existential one-liner was born!
3. "Roll me like a blunt, because I wanna go home" - "Roaring 20's."
Inspired from his stint as Charlie Price in "Kinky Boots" on Broadway, "Roaring 20's" ironically sounds like if Frank Sinatra got high and performed a musical number, horn section, crooning, and all! Simply put, sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the drama and stress that we wanna pack our bags and leave. This line stuck out the most just because Urie knows just how clever it is: it serves as the backbone to this 20's speakeasy-styled jam!
4. "Sketchy girls and lipstick boys; troubled love and high-speed noise" - "The Overpass."
This lyric is ensured to be a fan-favorite: it's a total angsty throwback reminiscent of Panic!'s first album, "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out". In general, "The Overpass" is a certified jam: sonically, it's as if Bruno Mars and Adele collaborated on a "James Bond" opener. Again, delivering a tasteful chorus-backbone of a one-liner, Urie shows that he knows how to write stadium-ready anthems!
5. "Everything is cherries on top" - "(F*ck A) Silver Lining."
"To the old, and to the new...we dedicate this song to you," says a deep, sampled vocal before the razor-sharp horns of "Silver Lining" pierce into play. This track is another Bruno Mars/"Uptown Funk" esque party anthem. As Urie sings of how he isn't looking for the silver lining in situations because he wants to make sure that "everything is cherries on top." That's a sentiment that makes for the perfect summer soundtrack: don't settle for what's happening in your current situation, rise above and take what life truly has to offer you!
6. "Hey look ma, I made it!" - "Hey Look Ma, I Made It."
Yes, it's the title of the track, but it's too sweet not to love! Brendon's love for his mom and desire to let her know that it's all working out with the whole touring the world thing is apparent on this and the following track on the album, "High Hopes". The dancy, popping horns on "Hey Look Ma" make sure to get you dancing, even though you might be crying in the club as Brendon sings about how much he loves his mom!
7. "There's nothing else there for me at my door: all the people I know aren't who they used to be" - "Say Amen (Saturday Night)."
The lead single for Panic!'s current album cycle, admittedly, took some time to grow on me. But one thing that always hit home was the lyrical content of the track. There are so many ways to interpret Brendon's lyrics, but I am sure that what's most important to him is that the fans take his words and apply them to their own lives and belt them out at the top of their lungs! The mischievous, quick-talking delivery of the opening lyrics to "Say Amen" make for, yet again, another charming and confident track, of which this album is chock-full of!
"Pray for the Wicked" is Panic! At the Disco's sixth studio album and is available for purchase/streaming. Tickets to the band's summer tour, where all Panic! fans can finally gather and "say amen," can be found here.
