Pretty. Odd.
The harmonies on Pretty. Odd. give Panic! at the Disco a different kind of confidence. The band trade much of their electronic urgency for acoustic guitars, orchestral colour and a clear interest in 1960s pop. The change is substantial, but their enthusiasm for an immediately appealing melody remains easy to recognise.
Nine in the Afternoon is the clearest success. The rhythm is buoyant, the voices fit naturally around one another, and the arrangement adds colour without obscuring the tune. It sounds relaxed in a way the band's more frantic music rarely allows. That ease makes the song's cheerful strangeness inviting.
That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed) follows a similarly direct route, using bright guitars and a strong chorus to keep its ideas together. She's a Handsome Woman brings a more characterful guitar line into the mix, while the piano adds a small answering detail. The record is often at its best when the arrangement behaves like several musicians having a conversation.
When the Day Met the Night gives the horns an especially useful role. They help the song expand towards its chorus, making the orchestration part of the momentum. Northern Downpour offers a gentler centre, with a melody that has enough feeling to survive the band's taste for unusual language.
That language can also keep the listener at a distance. Several songs collect attractive images without giving them a clear emotional purpose. The more ornate passages in She Had the World and The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know occasionally seem to admire their own decoration. The Beatles influence is so clear that it can overshadow the band's individual character.
Still, the record's warmth and melodic generosity make the experiment worthwhile. Mad as Rabbits brings the ending back to a lively exchange of voices, reinforcing the sense of a band enjoying the possibilities of playing together. Pretty. Odd. is not equally convincing in every detail, but its best songs have a lightness that makes their careful construction easy to overlook.
