5 Seconds of Summer Emerge Stronger Than Ever on Everyone’s A Star!
5 Seconds of Summer have made a disruptive return with their highly anticipated sixth studio album, Everyone’s A Star!
Crashing into a new era with pure pandemonium, this chapter has already been filled with chaotic fan press conferences, pink limousines, and one-off performances from inside life-sized doll boxes, all soundtracked by a sound that’s stronger than ever.
Following an eventful few years of solo side quests since the band’s previous 2022 album, the Aussie foursome have come back together to add some new spice to their collective craft. The overarching themes of this record fittingly mirror the band’s now impressively extensive career. Starting with a powerful pop-rock punch, poking fun at the chaos of their early rise to fame, shifting into a more reflective and vulnerable space, and ultimately landing on something gritty and self-assured.
Known for their genre-bending, ambitiously explorative work, you can never be sure what vibe 5SOS will bring with a new release. This album is no exception, introducing an entirely new sound while retaining elements of what fans know and love. Kicking off with Everyone’s A Star!, the title track pulls you into a dreamy soundscape. Shimmering synths and glowing reverb wrap around lead singer Luke Hemmings’ high and hazy vocal, offset by a thrumming bass that echoes through the track. It’s smartly produced and the perfect opener for such a diverse album.
It’s swiftly followed by a trio of previously released singles. NOT OK’s bold, electronic edge brought something new to the band’s repertoire as the first single of this era. Said to have drawn inspiration from bands such as The Prodigy, these musical nods propel the group to bold new heights, worthy of an earth-shaking live performance somewhere not too far in the future. The bright sonic accents balance the edgier lines as Luke so clearly put, “It has the older 5 Seconds of Summer energy, but it’s different.. Lyrically, it’s about letting out the darker side of yourself and embracing it.. We pull those sides out of each other.” It’s an acceptance that the dizzying world of the music industry swings between feeling invincible and hiding shadowed parts of yourself from the world.
Telephone Busy follows with a similarly pulsing energy, hushed vocals, commanding drums, and sharp lyricism. There’s an undeniable grit and determination in the first part of the album that feels elevated from previous work. After years of fighting the boyband label they were branded with early in their careers, a track by the same name encapsulates the frustration of being boxed in by that title. “Love me when I’m skinny and we never ever age” lands as a direct hit on the mental toll of being seen only as the men of the moment, unsure where to go next or how to evolve without being frozen in time by the spotlight that first found you.
That drive to keep growing as artists is something the band actively pursues. Drummer Ashton Irwin recently shared that it’s an intentional choice, shaped largely by the producers and collaborators they select for each project, people who push them to evolve their sound. Watching the band grow from teenagers plucked to support One Direction into the acclaimed artists they are now, their longevity can be credited to sheer determination and self-belief to keep bettering themselves as musicians. Few would have endured the way they have, continuing to infuse their work with such positivity and resolve.
No. 1 Obsession follows Boyband perfectly, closing out the chaotic fame segment with thunderous drums and a sliding electric guitar. It conjures something deeply cathartic and primal, made to be screamed from the pit on tour. The panned vocal production is slick, building into a bouncy chorus that demands attention. The second chorus kicks in with a punch of guitar that lifts the whole track, a payoff that seals the song’s anthemic edge.
A more delicate change of pace arrives with I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again. The slightly muffled vocal and hazy production, along with Calum Hood’s casually spoken pre-chorus, invite you to imagine listening while driving through the city late at night. It’s a quiet contemplation of distance, love, and longing. There’s something warmly nostalgic about this soundscape that carries into the next portion of the record. Istillfeelthesame offers a more upbeat reflection on the subtle changes in someone’s feelings, when you sense something’s shifted between you, but can’t exactly place what.
Ghost represents the emotional core of the record. Gentle synths, wistful harmonies, and intentionally imperfect production give the feeling of listening to a slightly wobbly vinyl record, paired with cutting lyrics, “you and I, haunted by a similar ghost.” It captures the moment of recognizing your own demons in someone else. Sick of Myself carries a similar sentiment but through an entirely different sound, finding solace in someone’s company while being fed up with yourself and your reality.
Having recently signed with Republic Records, the album was a labour of love, crafted largely between Los Angeles and Nashville alongside Jason Evigan, Julian Bunetta, and John Ryan. 5SOS continue to defy the traditional album cycle, taking extended breaks to pursue solo projects before reconvening to push new creative boundaries together. Hearing this record, you can trace threads of their individual work woven throughout, resulting in something truly unique and more mature than they have reached before.
One standout arrives at track ten. Evolve bursts with grooving bass, mostly spoken vocals, and a ridiculously catchy bridge that gives it a fierce, gritty edge unlike anything else on the album. It commands movement, equally at home blasting through club speakers or a 5SOS setlist. Speaking at the album event in Kingston last week, Irwin jokingly described the song as an apology from men, an honest admission that growth sometimes demands significant personal development.
The final two tracks mellow into a state of reflection and acceptance. The Rocks is a drum-heavy sound, cleverly balanced between gutsy and groovy, while Jawbreaker closes the album like a mic drop, a fitting end for a record that so perfectly encapsulates the band’s rich sonic development.
Everyone’s A Star! is both everything and nothing you’d expect from 5 Seconds of Summer, and that’s exactly the point. Over a decade in, they continue to grow, challenge themselves, and shift into new genres in fearless pursuit of timeless creativity. It’s a testament to their humility, dedication, and ever-growing fanbase, one that will follow wherever their music leads. This era feels like the true evolution of that small band from Sydney into an unstoppable and unshakeable force. With a huge world tour planned for 2026, there’s no stopping 5 Seconds of Summer as they summon their biggest and boldest era yet.
