Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen recording group Panic! At The Disco has announced the release of their hugely anticipated new album. “VICES & VIRTUES” arrives in stores and at all digital retailers on March 21.
The album’s first single, entitled “The Ballad of Mona Lisa,” is available now through all digital retailers. Produced by Butch Walker (Weezer, Pink) and John Feldmann (Neon Trees, The Used), “VICES & VIRTUES” marks Panic! At The Disco’s first new release in three years, as well as their debut outing as a duo comprised of singer/multi-instrumentalist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith.
“It’s been a long time coming, “ Urie recently told Alternative Press, “but we’re really excited about the songs.”
Pre-orders for the album are available now at iTunes. In addition, pre-orders are also currently being offered at both Panic! At The Disco’s official website (www.panicatthedisco.com). Though the most limited of the deluxe packages, the “Fantastical Bundle” sold out almost instantly, “VICES & VIRTUES” is still being offered as a unique deluxe bundle, featuring such exciting exclusives as a Limited Edition Box Set that includes a 32 page perfect bound book of art and photos, 4 full colour 5x5 photo cards, a foldout poster, a DVD with special new video content, and 4 additional bonus tracks. All pre-orders receive an instant download of “The Ballad of Mona Lisa.”
Named as one of SPIN’s “30 Must-Hear Albums of 2011,” “VICES & VIRTUES” follows Panic! At The Disco’s acclaimed second album, “PRETTY. ODD.” which debuted at #2 on SoundScan/Billboard 200 album chart upon its 2008 release. The album’s remarkable popular success was matched by a wave of critical applause, with NME declaring it “a victory for artistic ambition over cynical careerism, one of the feel-good psych-pop albums of the year.”
Released in 2006, Panic! At The Disco’s debut, “A FEVER YOU CAN’T SWEAT OUT” was platinum-certified in New Zealand and remains one of the biggest selling debuts in Fueled By Ramen history. With their visionary pop modernism and bevy of irresistible hooks, singles like, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” earned the band international acclamation and a fervent fan following around the globe. What’s more, Panic! At The Disco received a number of major honors, including Grammy Award nominations and the prestigious MTV Video Music Awards “Video of the Year” prize for the imaginative companion video for “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.”
Panic! At The Disco has also proven an unqualified sensation on the live stage, headlining an array of festivals and multi-artist tours (including 2008’s Rock Band Live and Honda Civic Tour). Most recently, the band played to a series of sold out shows in London (attached is the gig review feature from Kerrang!), Germany and the New York City show which earned ecstatic critical acclaim from all corners including MTV news and SPIN which extolled the band for “blowing through their 13-song set with every ounce of energy that had been bottled up for two whole years.”
The New York Times hailed Panic! At The Disco’s new material for their “manic energy and tunefulness,” praising the “tempo shifts, interludes of strings and synthesizer in ‘Let’s Kill Tonight’ and hints of cabaret and tango, switching to power ballad, in ‘Nearly Witches.’”
