If you remember the good old days of Panic! At The Disco, pre-controversy, chances are you have lost track of what the band are up to nowadays. Still fronted by Brendon Urie, the band has transformed into a pop-led solo project and recently launched a massive comeback with their new single and album Viva Las Vengeance. The eponymous title track, which was teased for two weeks online, only has a few elements characteristic of the band — upbeat drums, Urie’s Queen-esque harmonies, and visuals of the singer-songwriter playing the piano.
The punchy, upbeat track highlights Urie’s fine-tuned wailings, especially in the chorus despite running in the veins of its predecessors, and pays homage to his hometown, Las Vegas, through the lyrics: “Nothing’s really real / No one really feels / Nothing to declare” and “In a city full of promises / Nothing rings true.”
The forthcoming project takes an introspective look into his relationships with his decade-plus career including love, fame, growing up in Las Vegas, and everything that happens in between, Urie wrote on Instagram. It is a cinematic musical journey about the fine line between taking advantage of your youth, seizing the day, and burning out. Speaking of the album, Urie said in a press release: “Viva Las Vengeance’ is a look back at who I was 17 years ago and who I am now with the fondness I didn’t have before. I didn’t realize I was making an album and there was something about the tape machine that kept me honest.”
Directed by frequent collaborator Brendon Walter (“High Hopes”), the retro visuals feature the band performing the raucous power-pop track on a variety show straight out of the ‘60s. The brightly colored video also finds Urie being attacked by instruments, in a Little Shop of Horrors sort of way, which cleverly mirrors the inspirations behind the band’s long-awaited new era. The campy visuals and lyrics coincide with the sentiments Urie is aimed at portraying — life through his perspective.
“Viva Las Vengeance” shows a change in process for Urie, having cut everything live to tape in Los Angeles with production partners Jake Sinclair and Mike Viola and marks Panic! At The Disco’s first album in four years, following 2018’s Pray For the Wicked. The upcoming seventh album, released on Aug. 19, will be supported by a world tour that kicks off in September in North America. As Urie said, welcome to Viva Las Vengeance.
