June 22, 2018 is the release date for Panic! at the Disco's sixth album, Pray for the Wicked. But as Brendon Urie (sole member of the band) teases us with eerily cult-like email newsletters, late night talk show performances, social media posts, and released singles, "(Fuck A) Silver Lining, "Say Amen (Saturday Night)," and "High Hopes," June 22 can't come soon enough.
Expectations are high for this album, as Panic! at the Disco's last album, Death of a Bachelor hit the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart upon its release. This was Panic! at the Disco's first Urie-only album, which proved to be a natural success.
Since the Death of a Bachelor album and tour, Urie also stepped out of his element (very fabulously) to perform as Charlie Price in "Kinky Boots" on Broadway. Urie can't seem to sit still for very long.
Pray for the Wicked doesn't feel rushed as much as it feels inexorable in Urie's cadence of activities.
"High Hopes," the most recent single, released on May 23, barges in with a fanfare that can only be classified as a mirror of Urie himself. If this isn't the first song on his setlist for Panic! at the Disco's summer Pray For The Wicked Tour, and if he doesn't wear something dapper and glittery, I don't know what he's doing.
You can listen to "High Hopes" here:
