Everyone’s a Star: 5SOS Return With Bold New Single, NOT OK
5 Seconds of Summer have officially returned with their brand-new single NOT OK and the announcement of their sixth studio album, Everyone’s a Star!, set for release on 14 November.
After months of cryptic teasers, mysterious posters in cities worldwide and a curated Instagram diary of rehearsal clips, the band surprised fans with the release of NOT OK. They also revealed their fresh partnership with Republic Records and celebrated by putting on a free pop-up show in Hollywood, where a few hundred lucky fans got to hear the new single live alongside unreleased tracks from the upcoming album.
NOT OK signals a bold new direction for the group. Sonically, it nods to Gorillaz, blending their signature pop-rock roots with a darker electronic edge. The track playfully tackles the boyband label they’ve long outgrown, leaning into edgier lyrics and a moodier personality. With its punchy instrumentation and addictive hooks, it’s destined to stay stuck in listeners’ heads, not that anyone is complaining.
The comeback builds on the momentum of 2022’s 5SOS5, which cemented the band’s maturity and evolution. In the time since, members have explored solo projects, side quests, and even parenthood, but this new era marks a welcome return to their full creative force as a unit.
In a recent Rolling Stone AU/NZ interview, bassist Calum Hood reflected on the group’s constant progression, “We’re always planning. The 5SOS cog in the music world never stops. In fact, it’s probably the hardest-working cog. There’s always conversations going. There’s always people dreaming up things, ‘What if we do this, what if we do that?’ So fear not, because there’s always something going on.”
With album pre-orders already live, linking to presale codes for a ‘yet to be announced’ tour, this is just the beginning of 5SOS’s next chapter. One thing’s certain, the Aussies are back, and they’re ready to make it their biggest and boldest era yet.
