Panic! At The Disco’s fifth studio album, “Death of a Bachelor,” is shaping to be the band’s most personal and moving album to date. Since April of 2015, Panic! At The Disco have been teasing the world with music videos showcasing everything from churches, demon transformations, and what’s arguably the most normal Panic! At The Disco music video in the title song, “Death of a Bachelor.” This is also the first album to not feature drummer Spencer Smith. So what can listeners can expect on January 15th when the album is finally released?
An Album Inspired by Brendan Urie’s Childhood
This album is very much Brendon Urie’s baby. On October 22, 2015, Brendon released a statement on the band’s Facebook sharing the background of the album:
When I was a little kid and I heard a song I liked on tv, I would jump up and run to the piano to try and figure it out by ear. When I was 10 or 11, I built myself a drum kit in the garage made out of empty laundry detergent buckets, old lawn chairs, paint cans, and old trash cans. Around that time, my parents got me my first guitar. A baby acoustic. I jumped between all of these instruments constantly to satisfy the ideas I heard in my head. At this young age, I realized that music would play a huge part in my life. I had no idea.
‘Death Of A Bachelor’ is in honor of those times I spent alone as a kid. Allowing music to consume me. Playing everything myself just to get the idea right and out of my head. It’s a beginning to a new era. And an homage to how it all began.
This album is me. Running to the piano. Building a drum kit. Strumming a guitar.
Some things never change.
A Bit of Sinatra Peppered In?
The title song, “Death of a Bachelor” is arguably the most moving piece that Panic! At The Disco has done with a pretty tame music video compared to what the band has previously done. Urie has always been a great storyteller within his music videos, but “Death of a Bachelor” may leave listeners speechless with the sheer emotion that will leave you feeling goosebumps. When the music video was released, Urie confessed that Frank Sinatra has had a huge influence on him and this album.
Frank Sinatra turns 100 this year. I attach his music to so many memories: Opening presents on Christmas day, my grandparents teaching the rest of the family to swing dance, watching “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” with my siblings (Sinatra makes a cameo in the form of a cartoon sword singing “Witchcraft”). His music has been a major player in the soundtrack of my life. So it’s only right that I return the favor and/or pay it forward. I wrote a new album this year and even in the few songs that don’t sound remotely similar to any of his music I still felt his influence in the writing and the need to relate so personally to each song. “Death Of A Bachelor” is very important to me. It expresses the bittersweet (but mostly sweet) end of an era. A look back at a part of my life now deceased. An “It’s A Wonderful Life”-esque look into a possibly different future. But mostly an appreciation for the present.
As beautiful “Death of a Bachelor” is as a song, some listeners may be struck with the question concerning what the song means and what exactly is the “the bittersweet end of an era” that Urie is referring to. In an Entertainment Tonight interview, Urie reveals that much of the lyrics were inspired by his recent marriage to Sarah Urie. “This whole album was written at my house where she and I live and it reflects very much the lifestyle I was living [while writing it], which is so different from who I used to be.”
The album so far seems to convey the idea of reverie, celebration, rebirth, and almost a closing note to the epic and wild fantasy Panic! At The Disco has graced the world with since 2004. Time will tell what the next chapter of the compendium that is Brendon Urie will bring, but if the six songs released are any indication of what to expect, this album is must have. Panic! At The Disco’s album releases on January 15th, 2016. Mark the date and get your copy!
