Song Review: Panic! At The Disco’s Hallelujah

Panic! At The Disco released the first song since Spencer Smith had resigned and it is awesome. Released on April 19, 2015, Panic!’s song “Hallelujah” is their first single off their fifth upcoming, untitled studio album, rumored to be released later this year. Selling over 71,000 copies and debuting on Bilboard’s Top 100  Hallelujah is opening the golden gates of a new era in the world of Panic! At The Disco.

Panic! At The Disco’s album art for Hallelujah

Hallelujah starts off with a drum riff, some background talking and a fanfare of trumpets, lead singer, Brendon Urie, is laughing and he goes on to say “A moment you’ll never remember, and a night you’ll never forget”, there’s an elongated “oooooh” and the beat drops into a jazzy, soulful and downtempo beat straight into the chorus. (below)

“All you sinners stand up sing hallelujah / show praise with your body, stand up sing hallelujah / and if you can’t stop shaking, lean back let it move right through ya / say your prayers, say your prayers say your prayers”

From the chorus itself, it sounds to be pretty religious. Images of TV ministers and their elaborate religious schemes and over excited audiences fill your head as you take in the chorus. KROQ asked about the meaning behind Hallelujah Brendon said “It’s just, for me, you know, the spirituality of being able to own up to your sins, as they’re called, and take responsibility for your actions really hit me this time around, and so that song really is about that, it’s, you know, taking responsibility for things that you felt guilty for in the past and just owning it, because, now, that’s a piece of you and you can’t get rid of that history, so, that’s really what it was. But it was a chance to, kind of also, you know, there’s a little tagline in there that I throw out to our fans, I like to call them ‘my sinners’, and I’m a fellow sinner, and so I think that’s a little special little throw-out to them.”

gif by Emily @ http://panic-at-the-blog.tumblr.com/

Panic! At The Disco also performed Hallelujah for the first time at the 7th Annual Shorty Awards along with their previous album’s single Miss Jackson. 
It’s always interesting to see what new sound Panic! comes up with with every new album they come out with, and you can never pin it on the first single since with their last album, Too Weird To Live, To Rare To Die their first released single Miss Jackson was vastly different than the electronic synth pop of the rest of the album.

The new era of Panic! At The Disco is upon us, the only original member left is lead singer Brendon Urie, and although fans can probably not expect drastic changes, new experiences will flood the lyrics and new style changes in this upcoming fifth album.

Niana Gutierrez

Listen to Hallelujah Below

Music News: Spencer Smith to leave Panic! At The Disco?

Panic! At The Disco has been no stranger to band-related drama, with drummer, Spencer Smith out of the picture the only founding member left of Panic! is lead singer Brendon Urie.

In 2013 on July 30th, Spencer wrote a letter to the fans on the official Panic! website coming clean about his addiction struggles. In the letter, Spencer talked about how after coming off the Vices and Virtues tour, he slipped deeper into his addition. “I was taking a dangerous amount of pills while drinking to chase that high, and just like with any other substance, the higher the high is, the lower the low is.”Spencer says in his letter, “What started out as a way for me to numb anxiety and depression had become the major cause of it.” Spencer goes on to say that that last fall of 2012 he had finally checked into rehab with the support of his friends and family and that “releasing this is to try and relate to anyone who has experienced addiction personally or with a loved one, and to be honest with everyone else. To let people know that anxiety, depression, and addiction are not picky. They plague people of all ages from all walks of life. But, you can recover!! So, please seek help if you’re suffering personally, and urge anyone you know to get help if they are suffering. It gets better one day at a time.” [X]

Now two years later, Spencer Smith has made it official that he is leaving the band. In another statement on the band’s Tumblr page on April 2, 2015, Spencer’s opening lines to the fans were “After 10 years of being a part of this unbelievable journey it saddens me to say that I will be leaving Panic.” He goes on to talk about his favorite memories and what he’ll miss most about the band itself, “Looking back over the past decade I still have to pinch myself to believe it was all real.” Spencer says. He ends his letter with a heartfelt thank you to the fans saying “…none of it was possible without you. Whether it was in front of 15 people at Brendon’s church social or 15,000 people in a field somewhere in England. What we created, the four of us onstage, and you in the audience, that was something special. It was on those nights I’d say to myself “If I could be anywhere in the world tonight, with anyone I wanted, it would be right here with you”. It’s what I’ll miss the most. So, thank you. I truly cannot wait to see what’s next for Panic, whatever it is, it’s going to be great.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving me the life I only dreamed of 10 short years ago.” [X]

A lot of fans have been left wondering if Spencer’s exit will put Panic!’s future in jeopardy, but in a recent interview with Billboard, interviewer Joe Lynch, he asks leads singer Brendon Urie what’s it’s like to be the “last man standing”. Brendon goes on to say “Thinking about where I started — I joined as the last member of the band before we started touring and got signed. Now I’m last man standing. But to me I love it so much. I love this band. I love everything about it — touring, songwriting. So for me it’s never been a question of stopping or letting go of it all because I love it too much.” [X]

It’s safe to say that while it’s sad that Spencer Smith has left Panic! At The Disco, he is in the place he needs to be, and fans of the band will continue to hear “last man standing” Brendon Urie and co-writer and bassist, Dallon Weekes, churn out new music for the time to come.

Niana Gutierrez

Listen to Spencer Smith’s last album with Panic!, Vices and Virtues Below: