I know what you're thinking. "Panic! At The Disco? Saam, you've dropped the ball here." To some extent, I agree. Unlike a lot of the other songs I post on FADED GLAMOUR, it's not like the band are particularly going to benefit from my enthusiasm. (Although I was surprised how few blogs have covered this track.) But I genuinely think that 'This Is Gospel' is the best thing they've ever done - a total power-pop anthem, with a great video from Daniel Cloud Campos.
It wasn't even the music that truly compelled me to write about 'This Is Gospel'. It was reading the heartfelt message from frontman Brendon Urie that covered the rise of the band to the struggles with addition that drummer Spencer Smith has been facing. Admittedly, the decision to depict someone smoking on the front cover of your album while speaking about the difficulties of addition elsewhere is a curious one.
I particularly like Urie's aspirational final sentence: "Just show up and don’t ever give up". It's not something I've always managed to subscribe to - indeed, sometimes giving up takes as much courage as toughing it out. But there's something about that message that works incredibly well in conjunction with 'This Is Gospel'. Like Urie's piece, the song seems to come from an impassioned and pained place. Like Urie's piece, it ultimately strikes an uplifting chord despite morbid lyrical/video undertones.
The 'Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!' album is set to be released worldwide in October. Find more info at panicatthedisco.com.
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