Panic! at the Disco released their fifth album, “Death of a Bachelor,” last Friday, Jan. 15. It has been anticipated since last April with the release of the single “Hallelujah.” This surprising release followed drummer Spencer Smith’s departure from the band due to issues with addiction. Additionally, bassist Dallon Weekes announced has scaled back his creative involvement in July essentially leaving the band with one member, Brendon Urie. Urie has been the frontman of the band for a while now and those who follow the band are not really surprised by him officially taking control. Since April, the band has released numerous singles which were featured on the album. In addition to this, many songs on “Death of a Bachelor” were leaked by both fans and Brendon Urie, the frontman of the band.  

The album opens with “Victorious,” an upbeat song with a “Sinatra- esque, Beyonce beat thing,” according to Urie official annotations on Genius Lyrics. In fact, Frank Sinatra is a heavy influence on this album; his influence is found in almost every song to some degree. With buzzwords such as “victorious,” “glorious,” and “killer,” along with many other words with a powerful connotation, the song can easily amp someone up, and that was exactly the artist’s intention. “It makes me want to tackle something. I wanted to have something to amp me up,” said Urie. Although this is such a fun and energy-filled song, it can get a little annoying and repetitive in terms of the beat – in other words I would not recommend playing this song on replay. Regardless, this is still a great song.

Next up on the album is “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time,” which is about a certainly memorable night of partying. It seems to resemble many of the band’s previous work. This song is light-hearted and features many very quirky lyrics that reference what supposedly happened that night. A particularly catchy one is “I lost a bet to a guy in a chiffon skirt/ But I make these high heels work.” These lyrics are certainly one of the highlights of this song.

Then “Hallelujah” brings an interesting contrast in the lyrics and the music. The lyrics are more emotional and have been rumored to reference events in Urie’s personal life, while the music is very (happy-sounding). Despite their differences, they meld perfectly to create a song that has an upbeat tune yet emotional lyrics.

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” is all about new beginnings for Panic! at the Disco. “Over the past ten years I’ve been this one person, as I saw myself in Panic! at the Disco. But now I am Panic! at the Disco, and that’s what I wanted to come across. Now it’s all changed and I’m taking it back.” But many fans do believe that Urie has been not only the frontman, but also the one who has all of the creative control for a while now; either way you can’t really argue that Panic! at the Disco is definitely changing. This song is all about change as can definitely be seen in the opening lyric “Welcome to the end of eras,” which is clearly signifying a new beginning for the band.

The album takes a drastic turn with the title song, “Death of a Bachelor.” Most of the previous songs had undertones (if not overtones) of the “bachelor lifestyle” of partying and having many short-term relationships but still feeling lonely, but this song is about him finding someone who he plans on spending his life with. This resulting in the “death of a bachelor,” which “seems so fitting for happily ever after.”

Then this fire track “Crazy=Genius” despite its “fiery” lyrics (the song references fire and arson), is kind of a disappointment. While reminiscent of the band’s first album, “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out,” it seems hastily thrown together with an over-repetitive chorus to make up for the lack of thought put into the verses and bridge. This is the one song on the album that I could never really get into. But the music is very similar to their some of their older songs, which I can definitely appreciate.

“LA Devotee” is honestly beautiful. Although it sounds like a high-energy fluff song, it seems jammed with meaning. Many fans, including myself, believe that the song is about Urie’s wife, Sarah Urie. “I wouldn’t ever try to change her” is my favorite lyric of the entire song. It’s a song about her and basically their relationship. The song has a fun and energetic feeling to it that I imagine would be even more amazing live. The high energy and the raw emotion blend perfectly to create “LA Devotee.”

Full of nostalgia and memories, “Golden Days” is about memories and how the past always seems better than the present. This is a song about lost friendships, relationships, and connections with people. Many people believe that this song is referencing Ryan Ross leaving the band and its effect on Urie. It’s a beautiful song, but a little repetitive, yet it manages still be a good song.

Similar to “Crazy=Genius,” “The Good, The Bad And The Dirty” is also a disappointment. First of all the title does not use the oxford comma and the song is repetitive. Compared to the rest of the album, this song is nowhere near as quality. The lyrics are subpar and the chorus carries the weight of the verses and bridge.

Similar to “Golden Days,” “House of Memories” is filled with nostalgia and likely references events in Urie’s personal life. This song has an intense feel to it with and is essentially about how Urie wants people from his past to remember him because they were once so close. Although I do enjoy this song, it gets very repetitive and seems to lack the effort put into the lyrics that many of the other songs seem to have.

Personally, “Impossible Year” is the most emotional song on the album for me. Anyone who’s had an extremely difficult year will likely appreciate this song. It shows how everything seems impossible in the moment but you can get through it, no matter how hard it is. The melody is resemblant of Frank Sinatra and so are the vocals and it leaves a beautifully modern take on the classic artist’s style.

Panic! at the Disco’s “The Death Of A Bachelor” is heavily influenced by events in Urie’s personal life, Frank Sinatra’s music, and seems to revisit many of their older styles and explores a new sound. Overall, the album is great because the songs all sound amazing in their own way. The album exceeded my expectations by a longshot.