Panic! At the Disco is going dark on "This is Gospel."
Whoaaa. Is this Panic! At the Disco? The protean act's "This Is Gospel" opens with a vocoder-filtered vocal worthy of Imogen Heap and electro-pop verses featuring exactly zero electric guitars. The band's toyed with electronics before (see the drum machine tease of Vices & Virtues' "Hurricane"), but never like this. Talk about letting go. The band's back to rocking by the chorus, as singer Brendon Urie bursts through the effects with his patented stentorian, theatrical roar and a vulnerably soul-racked, absolutely gripping, ripping chorus.
Watch Panic! At The Disco's "This Is Gospel" video after the jump.
The heartbeat-driven track's a surprise after the crunchy guitars of the band's previous single, "Miss Jackson," and the video makes a dramatic impact. "Don't try to sleep through the end of the world and bury me alive," Urie sings, and the "This is Gospel" visual goes dark: first doctors holding him on the operating table, then a shot of a black-tie makeover that ends six feet under (again with the funeral imagery, Panic!?). The song ends with a body flatlining and a soul escaping. Ready to die: not just a Biggie album.
From music to video, no element's overlooked in "This is Gospel," which could be the band's most ambitious, intense track yet. Looks like the group will have a lot to share on their new album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, which lands on Oct. 8. Hallelujah.
