Interview Cutting loose: Panic! At The Disco

Brendon Urie’s released his fifth album as Panic! At The Disco and this time, it really is all about him.

Words: Sarah Jamieson
Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett
16th February 2016

“I’ve been sitting on this thing for like six months!” laughs Brendon Urie, as he sits backstage at London’s Brixton Academy. Tonight, he’ll be airing some of his new album for the first time, right ahead of its release. It’s not just excitement he’s feeling though. “I’m always anxious,” he confirms. “I’m curious to see what kind of reaction it gets, because I never think about that when I’m writing. I’m anxious in a good way; I’m very excited!”

‘Death of a Bachelor’ marks a new time for Panic! At The Disco; not only is it his fifth album, but it’s also the first record he’s completely worked on on his own. “This time around was a lot more fun because I was totally alone this time,” he assures. “I still had a couple of members wanting to contribute on the last album [‘Too Weird To Die, Too Rare To Live!’], but this time it really was just me. Me writing, me recording and me on the instruments, and I prefer it, honestly.

“Coming from compromising with three other people and their opinions, not being able to fully do what you want is fun, and it’s different but I much prefer this, where I get to call the shots and delegate my ideas to whoever wants to help, but I get to make the final call. I have more of a vision of what I want; I know what I’m trying to accomplish and it becomes easier when I get to just do it on my own. I work better on my own sometimes.”

‘Don’t Threaten Me with a Good Time’:

"I much prefer this, where I get to call the shots and delegate my ideas to whoever wants to help."

— Brendon Urie

Granted the freedom to achieve his own vision, Urie's latest effort is a true pastiche of his own life and experiences. Not only does the record see him stitching together lyrics, inspired by his everyday conversations (“'I'm not as think as you drunk I am' was just something my buddy said at the bar one night, and I thought it was hilarious!”) but the album sees him exploring all manner of musical inspirations, too.

“I like to extend myself a little bit and see what I haven't done. If it feels new and fresh, it feels like I'm doing a good thing. This time around, I listened to a lot of Queen, Frank Sinatra was a huge influence, a lot of hip hop too.

“I wanna get better at that,” he explains, on channelling his own influences. “That was one thing I wasn't well-versed at when this band first started. I didn't know how to sonically, not imitate, but implicate maybe, that inspiration and influence in sound. Now, I think if you hear the title track, you go, 'Oh, I clearly hear Sinatra.' I love that. I love being able to, in a way, pay tribute to these influences that I've had for a very long time.”