True to their name, 5 Seconds of Summer have returned for a fifth time with their studio album 5SOS5.

While this is the band’s fifth studio album, it is their first entirely self-produced project. 5SOS5 is their first album under their new record label deal with BMG, after ending their contracts with Interscope and their long-time management team, Modest Management, who also managed One Direction.

This album is a major milestone for the band and fully showcases their creative expression and newfound freedom. Here’s a track-by-track look at 5SOS5.

The album opens up with “Complete Mess,” a call back to lead singer Luke Hemmings’ shirt he used to wear often back when the band first formed. The track was teased up until its release in early March and was the first single released leading up to the album’s release. The song is a slower, mellower showcase of a messy relationship, and was the first song to just have all four members on the credits, as well as one of them acting as a producer. The song is a full circle moment for the band as the title holds a lot of symbolism of the band’s past while also presenting the new direction that the band is taking with their sound. 

Easy For You To Say

The second track, “Easy For You To Say,” is a continuation of the nostalgic theme of 5SOS5. Hemmings opens the song by referencing Sydney, Australia, which is the band’s home country. He also sings about “a youth that was stolen and filled with mistakes,” referring to the band’s struggle with starting their career at a young age. The song's last minute showcases the band’s main strengths – intense rhythmic instrumentals and clean vocals. The collision of Luke Hemmings’ vocals against the build of drums and bass intensifies the song, leaving the listener wanting more.

The album's energy builds with the third song, “Bad Omens” which acted as the lead single off the album with a music video to accompany it. The instrumental flows and ebbs at the beginning of each chorus and are accompanied by smooth vocals from Hemmings and gang vocals sprinkled throughout the track. The track has melodic, heavy drums throughout the instrumental and string instrumentals that grow throughout the song to make it one of the stand-out tracks of the album. This song was the last song to be recorded on the album as the band wanted to fill in a gap by making an upbeat instrumental song as the rest of the album holds a melancholy melody.

This song was released as the third single from 5SOS5. The sound is reminiscent of the band’s sophomore album, “Sounds Good Feels Good,” both lyrically and instrumentally. It continues the self-pitying, self-destructive attitude and voice that the band carries throughout the album. Despite the somewhat depressing message of this track, the energetic guitar and effortless falsetto from Hemmings make it sound more catchy than sad.

Take My Hand - Joshua Tree Version 

“Take My Hand” was the second single released in the months before the album’s release, but the version of the song that made the album is the unpolished version of the track. This version of the song is 58 seconds longer with an echoing voice recording of Hemmings singing a continuation of the chorus at the end of the chorus. The lyrics and instrumentals of this song call back to earlier projects from the band with the iconic sound that most longtime fans associate with the band. The instrumentals showcase heavy bass lines and heavy snare drumming that resembles the build-up of the band’s songs “Youngblood” and “Calm.”

5 Seconds of Summer directly address their sporadic lifestyle as a famous band in this song, describing their lives as “just a carousel spinnin’ around.” The band has been working and performing since they were around 16-18, and this song depicts their wild journey and emotions on their road to success. Although it has been an intense ride for the band as a whole, “CAROUSEL” emphasizes that the band would never want to stop it. 

The track “Older” brings a more acoustic sound to the album and is reminiscent of Hemmings’ project “When Facing the Things We Turn Away From.” The instrumentals of this song are emphasized with piano and softer drumming which gives a more personal touch to the song. This song is one of three slower songs but is the only true ballad piece on the album. This is the first collaboration track to be included on a 5 Seconds of Summer album. It is a significant collab for the band, as it features Luke Hemmings’ fiance, Sierra Deaton. Deaton formerly sang in the duo group Alex & Sierra. 

“HAZE” brings back a more lighthearted sound that helps enhance the brightness of the album it is one of the three songs that are in a major key. The poppy bass and guitar riffs with the free drumlines make this song ear candy to listeners. The sound of this song is almost reminiscent of the sound of Tame Impala and definitely stands out on the album as the most instrument-heavy song on the album. 

You Don’t Go To Parties

This is the track that I’ve had on repeat ever since the release of the album. “You Don’t Go To Parties” is stylistically different from the band as this song was inspired partly by country music cadences, and the influence can certainly be felt in the melody of the chorus. Written and sung by band members Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin, the strong vocals and instrumentals act as an addictive creation that is guaranteed to be stuck in your head. 

This song was released as a surprise single on July 10, after the band performed it live in Washington, D.C., on their Take My Hand Tour. “BLENDER” was widely popular amongst 5SOS fans before it was even released, and it is the third most streamed song on the album. This song is a deep dive into the mixture of feelings that come with being in a relationship and how there can be negative effects on a person and how over time that effect can be shown in a reflection of someone’s state of mind and their individual life. This song features work from Peter Thomas and Jake Torrey, who have respectively worked with artists like Selena Gomez, Pink and Justin Bieber.

“Caramel” is the sweetest-sounding track on the album and has one of the best instrumentals on the album. The song showcases four-part harmonies throughout and has the familiar lead guitar that 5SOS fans know and love with a smooth rhythm over poppy EDM chords. The ending of the song is the comedown of the track with soft, plucking guitar strings and piano chords that reflect the lyrics of the song that go “I know it well, caramel, I feel the comedown.” This track was produced by John Feldman, a producer that the band has worked with before. Feldman is most notably known to have worked with bands like Blink-182 and Good Charlotte. 

This is another upbeat song on the album as this song tells the story of friendship and what friendship is between the band. The chorus is high energy and holds a lot of love within the words. The bubbly sound is something new for the band, but this song is one of the most important on this album as 5sos are besties and this is about their friendship - also everybody and their mom want this to be performed live. 

According to the band’s Spotify storyline attached to this song, “Bleach” was originally intended to be “a jingle pitch for Clorox.” This makes sense, considering the chorus’ lyrics: “If there’s bleach in the hallways, I can start over / Bleaching my hair every Saturday / I’m washing it out ‘til I’ve figured out living without you.” This song has a more simplified, electronic instrumental style. Michael Clifford’s vocals add color to the latter half of the song, emphasizing the depth and pain behind the lyrics. The reference to hair bleaching also calls back to 5SOS’ early years as a band, as Clifford was well-known for bleaching and dyeing his hair with intense, bright colors.

This song is also one of the tracks that are stylistically different on this record and has a peaceful sound despite the strong instrumentals and vocals. This track is melancholy and holds a lot of sentimental value to the band as “Red Line” is an overt reference to London, the city where the band resided and worked during their teenage years, and even uses the sound of train doors clothing with piano keys playing the back to end the song. 

 This song definitely is experimental vocally with interesting layers and harmonies throughout the track that is supported by different acoustic guitars playing throughout the track. This is one of the tracks that slows the album down from the original uptempo electric and guitar and heavy bass lines that are used in other tracks on the album. This track is the shortest on the album but feels like a nod to 5SOS’ old sound but in a more polished way. 

This track took the longest to grow on me from this album. “Flatline” is the most dynamic song of the whole album, and suffers from mainstream influences of bubble gum pop with simple chords and sounds like something the band would have released in 2018. The song does have its upsides of the harmonies throughout the song, but this song definitely needed a few listens before I was a fan. 

The album slows down once again with the “Emotions” with acoustic guitars with Michael Clifford as the only member to sing on the track. Each instrument of the band is isolated adds to the intimate sound of this track and the slow pace of the track allows the listener to actually hear and evaluate the lyrics of the song and helps convey a bigger impact than the faster-paced songs on the album. 

“Bloodhound” wears a groovy drumline and upbeat bridge that helps add to the conclusion of the album. The ending two tracks of this album helped keep the darker sound of the band, and are reminiscent of drummer Ashton Irwin’s solo project, “Superbloom”. With 19 songs, this album is jam-packed, but the placement of this song starts the end of the album off with a stylistic change in sound from the band. 

The closing track on the album is another track that only features vocals from Irwin and Hood. The rhythm of this track is smooth and contrasts the sound of the rest of the album as the rhythms section of the band takes the reigns with “TEARS!”. This song continues the darker side of the album but lets the potential for a new sound rise with the album ending with this song.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.