After taking some time out to focus on their respective solo careers, 5 Seconds of Summer, commonly shortened to 5SOS, are back with their first studio album in three years titled Everyone’s a Star! Their sound has come a long way since the days of ‘She Looks so Perfect,’ and they are back with an electronic distorted sound which parallels their pop-punk roots as this is them evolving into their next form off the back of their Royal Albert Hall concert in 2022.
An atmospheric synthesiser intro, which is slightly overwhelming, leads us into the first track with is titled ‘Everyone’s a Star!’ Much like any past 5 Seconds of Summer songs, each member has a solo part in each song and there isn’t one single lead vocalist and this is what sets them apart from any other band in their era, their way to seamlessly switch from genre to genre and not be stuck in their pop-punk roots without losing their fanbase also makes them unique. In the title track, Luke Hemmings opens on vocals then hands the baton onto bassist Calum Hood for the pre-chorus. The sound of this is quite heavy pop, as it has elements of a pop song, but not quite a full rock song. From this we head into a dreamy bridge as we finish this song it sets up the tone of the album to be heavily drum focussed as they trade between organic and electronic instruments.
The first single to be released for this album cycle was ‘NOT OK!’ and this didn’t even hold our hand gently into what the prospective sound of this album was. It was like the band saying “this is who we are for this album, we have grown up and we are sticking with this sound.” I sincerely hope they keep this sound for their future few albums because I underestimated how well it works with them as a band and it helps them move forward as a group and not be stuck in the 2014 nostalgia playlists. An interesting segment of the song is not only the fast spoken almost rapping verses, but also the taunting “Bite the apple baby” parts. I really like this bit because not only does it add an interesting structure to the song where it pauses all instruments except the drums so dramatically, it lines up with the underlying evilness of the lyrics. I cannot wait to see this in a high action car chase in a movie in the near future. If it never makes it into one? Shame on you.
5 Seconds of Summer really seemed to enjoy the fade slide on the mixing desk throughout this album, in the track ‘Telephone Busy’ so many components in the song fade in and out and I wonder if I am still conscious or am I fading in and out of consciousness. Their vocals in this song are unique as they almost sound quite bored and the vibe is really they got loose and are having a bit of fun with this song, as the rest of the tracks from this album are so structured and completed. However, this song is something you would more than likely hear in a H&M sandwiched between Ariana Grande.
Without a doubt, ‘Boyband’ is the best song on Everyone’s a Star! With consideration of how as a band they grew up on stage with the likes of boyband One Direction, it is about time they address the treatment of boybands past and present especially after the death of Liam Payne. They seem to be really coming from the heart in the lyrics, and it is like a story of the band themselves, as they grow older and think back on how poorly they were treated by not only the label executives but the fans themselves. As a band 5SOS have sort of taken a step back from their days of “glory” you could call it, where they could barely leave the house without fear of being mobbed by fans. Some interesting lyrics are “Same four chords, but it never feels the same” I think this particular line holds up my previous point of that they are still playing the same songs as they did ten years ago but they’re just part of the catalogue now, they don’t hold the same value or meaning as they did in 2014.
Close enough welcome back The 1975 in 2016 in ‘I’m Scared I’ll never Sleep Again.’ The dreamy guitars and vocals, the reverbed drums is just so authentically The 1975 I cannot believe I am listening to 5 Seconds of Summer right now it’s insane. Calum Hood and Luke Hemmings both take the reins on this song vocally as drummer Ashton Irwin provides the drum beat of his life in the background. Quite interestingly the drums appear very high up and almost the focal point in this track.
These next few tracks are very similar to Calum Hood’s solo work CHAOS order CHAOS. ‘istillfeelthesame’ begins as this high tempo track and has this feel that would make it cool to hear in a video game. Every band member has a part to sing in this which shockingly doesn’t make it sound like a choir, when 2 or more members sing together at various points. ‘Ghost,’ not to be confused with their song ‘Ghost of You’ from their 2018 album Youngblood, opens with an oscillating 80s synthesiser which is hauntingly beautiful and then comes the crashing of the drums which completes the atmospheric feel. It divulges into the ‘Invisible string theory’ but after the specific pairing has gone their separate ways in the line “Haunted by a similar ghost.” I can’t imagine any other member except Luke Hemmings taking lead on the song, he has this ethereal vocal range which can work for both ballads and the harder rock songs in their discography.
After they decided to take a slower approach to the past few songs, we are back up to speed with ‘Sick of Myself.’ This song is like summer in a bottle with bright happy go lucky guitar tones and towards the end all instruments go on a dimmer and Luke Hemmings and Calum Hood both sing and echo to each other of “Please, Stay” each taking one word each. ‘Sick of Myself’ immediately after the gut-wrenching ballads of ‘Ghost’ and ‘istillfeelthesame’ is like the equivalent of sobbing and then catching your eye in a mirror and doing a peace sign.
‘Jawbreaker’ is the final song on the standard edition of Everyone’s a Star! And is the epitome of what it would be like if a band recorded a song on a rollercoaster. With a melody line that constantly goes up and down, pounding drums introduce for the final song. Fitting lyrics “I can see the end” appear in the first line and every other word in this song isn’t so final as the melodical chorus hums words about, for once, a happy song about a relationship. To conclude, I really like the direction that 5SOS are taking with this new album, I wasn’t so sure on it whilst listening to the singles for the first time but they were just throwing their new sound out there and seeing who was coming aboard for this new direction as the non-album tracks are a lot similar to not only their solo endeavours but their previous album.
5 Seconds of Summer: Everyone’s a Star! – Released 14 November 2025 (Republic Records)
