After months of silence from Panic! At The Disco (with the exception of Brendon Urie’s… interesting vine posts, for lack of a better word), the band have finally emerged, surprising fans with the announcement of a whole new album and a brand new video for the debut single from said album, Miss Jackson, featuring Lolo.
Apart from a small few who have complaints such as “Oh my god it sounds just like My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark by Fall Out Boy!!!” (as if that is a bad thing!) fans are mostly thrilled with the new song and they have every reason to be as it is arguably one of the best that the band have produced since the departure of Ryan Ross and Jon Walker from the band in 2009.
Although Urie’s voice is recognisable anywhere, the song is a fresh venture in a direction away from the musical directions Panic! have previously taken, and whilst the gang vocals do sound similar to those on Fall Out Boy’s recent comeback song, it would be wrong to suggest that Panic! are copying and living in Fall Out Boy’s shadow as the rest of the song is as uniquely theirs as is any of their past discography.
However, there is growing speculation that the dark video which accompanies the new song may tie into Fall Out Boy’s Youngblood Chronicles which sees similarly chilling scenes, though whilst fans may be team FOB in the videos (I mean who wants to see Patrick Stump have his hand chopped off?) it seems that Panic! would be the opposing team, Miss Jackson’s video ending with Urie beheading a woman. The dark undertones of the video are not the only hints that their videos may entwine with Fall Out Boy’s though, as the video begins with a burning tyre rolling across the screen – surely a reference to MSKWYDID???
As for the new album, Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! comes out on 8th October, so the wait is not excruciatingly long for fans (that’s less than 3 months now!) If the rest of the album is as impressive as this new release then I am sure that no one will be left disappointed, particularly as Panic! have always had a knack for creating albums with something for everyone so even if Miss Jackson is not to your tastes, you’ll surely find something to bob your head to come October.
As if all of that Panic! news wasn’t enough, the band have announced a US headline tour along with four UK tour dates, covering Nottingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and London in November. Tickets go on sale from 17th July.
Although there is initial disappointment at the lack of a full UK tour, there is no doubt that Panic! will be back again sooner than later, having done two UK tours upon their last album cycle, the latter including many more dates than the first.
Needless to say, if you are a fan of Panic! At The Disco, there is nothing to be sad about or wait around for any longer, as everything is happening and the end of this year and start of next year seem very promising for P!ATD.