★★★★☆

Image credit: Republic Records

5 Seconds of Summer, or 5SOS to fans and former Tumblr stans, is an Australian pop‑rock quartet formed in Sydney in 2011. They broke out in 2014 with ‘She Looks So Perfect’, toured with One Direction, earned platinum across four albums, and even starred in their own documentary. But with their breakthrough album Everyone’s a Star!, they don’t maintain the “boyband” legacy — they shred it.

After 5SOS5, each member spent three years working on solo projects. Luke Hemmings explored dream‑pop, Ashton Irwin leaned into psychedelic rock, Calum Hood experimented with indie‑pop, and Michael Clifford revisited the band’s punk roots. Coming back together, they brought those influences with them.

The album cover leans into bold Y2K aesthetics and tongue‑in‑cheek imagery, exaggerating their boyband identity rather than running from it. Posters teasing the record appeared across New York City before release, linking to a satirical “Your Favourite Boy Band” website — a rollout designed to poke fun at fame and spectacle. Recording stretched across three years, beginning in Los Angeles and Nashville after 5SOS5 in 2022 and continuing through 2025. Ashton Irwin described the process as their “most ambitious era yet”, pulling together 15 years of growth into a sound that blends pop‑rock, punk, and dance with ‘deliberate self‑awareness ’.

Noise and Satire

The album kicks off with ‘Everyone’s a Star!’, a collision of modern rock, pop, and 80s synths. It’s a deliberate takedown of influencer culture, built for live shows with its punchy rhythm and ironic swagger. Luke Hemmings explained:

“We’re fucking funny, and we spend most of our time making jokes and being in a bit. These songs feel more like talking to the audience and bringing them in on the joke.”

Luke Hemmings for Genius

That chaos carries straight into ‘NOT OK’, arguably the record’s loudest track. Distorted vocals and jagged guitars give it a rebellious edge, while the music video visuals — nuns, flames, and even Jesus auditioning boy bands — mock the machinery of pop stardom, exposing its money‑hungry absurdity

‘Telephone Busy’ shifts gears with a sleek, club‑ready bassline, poking fun at modern dating and the frustration of half‑available connections. Then comes ‘Boyband’, a cheeky reclamation of the label that once defined them. Once dismissed as One Direction’s little brothers, 5SOS reclaim the insult that has haunted them since 2014. The track ties into the album’s broader theme: the complicated past of fame, sharpened by the recent death of fellow artist Liam Payne. Luke Hemmings delivers the irony with bite, mockingly singing about being an imaginary boyfriend: “Take my photograph and lick it with my wet tongue.” There’s vulnerability in reclaiming this narrative, since “boyband” has often been shorthand for a large female fanbase and, unfairly, for music deemed less serious. Ashton Irwin calls the track a bark back at the emasculation tied to the term. Together, these songs set the album’s satirical tone — mocking the absurdity of show business and the relentless churn of production

“It’s so fun to write about the weirdness of our experience, but also the Frankenstein perception of what a boy band is [and] the emasculation of it. Calling grown men a boy band is almost like pointing at a 30-year-old and telling them they’re in high school — it kind of feels humiliating. It’s nice to bark back at that concept.”

Ashton Irwin for Genius

Vulnerability & Intimacy

The middle of the record dives into raw emotion. ‘No.1 Obsession’ balances glossy pop polish with vulnerability, while ‘I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again’ spirals into post‑breakup grief, echoing the 1975’s spacey melancholy. Luke’s solo album When Facing The Things We Turn Away From wrestled with sleepless nights and anxiety; here, that struggle resurfaces, reframed through the band’s collective grief:  “Every bed is cold without your body in it / Everywhere I go, my skin is crawling / What if I can’t close my eyes without you in my head?”

‘istillfeelthesame’ strips things back to everyday details — mascara running, zipping a dress — intimacy that hits harder than grand gestures. It’s simple but powerful, closer to earlier 5SOS ballads like ‘Amnesia’, yet more mature, reflecting how the band has grown up publicly through relationships and heartbreak.

It continues into ‘Ghost’, a sister track to the earlier release ‘Ghost of You’. Soft synths and aching falsetto carry the song, exploring longing, absence, and the lingering presence of someone who’s no longer there. Its meaning remains deliberately ambiguous — it can be heard as a meditation on addiction or as the ache of abandonment when you need someone most. The sound is almost hypnotic as Luke Hemmings sings: “Late at night, we’re the same, it shows / You and I, haunted by a similar ghost / Drunk and high when I need you most”. Positioned between ‘istillfeelthesame’ and ‘Sick of Myself’, ‘Ghost’ becomes the turning point, shifting the album from quiet intimacy to painful confession

‘Sick of Myself’ is the album’s emotional gut‑punch. Sparse production strips the track down to its core, letting the lyrics breathe: “I’m so sick of my, sick of myself. Wish I was somebody else”. The simplicity makes the song hit harder. Ashton Irwin’s past candour about depression and burnout adds weight to the song, grounding it in lived experience rather than abstract emotions. Echoing the raw melancholy of early Bon Iver, it stands as one of the record’s most affecting cuts — stark, vulnerable, and unforgettable.

Image credit: Republic Records

Closing and Chaos

‘Evolve’ throws listeners back into chaos, with lyrics fans have called “messy but genius.” Beneath the noise, it doubles as social commentary on how women are seen to “evolve” earlier than men. Calum Hood framed it as empowerment for their mostly female fanbase: “It’s really empowering for our fan base… It’s just talking about how stupid dudes are”. The bridge pushes the satire further, inserting a robotic interlude: ‘During development, girls’ brains tend to mature about one to two years earlier than boys’. For a band whose audience is largely women, it’s striking to hear that hypocrisy acknowledged so directly. Female fans have been dismissed since the boyband era of The Beatles, and ‘Evolve’ bites back at that history with chaotic wit.

Where ‘Evolve’ is brash, ‘The Rocks’ is stripped back and haunting. Carrying the legacy of Ashton Irwin’s solo project Superbloom, where he first explored emo and alternative sounds, the track feels like his heart on tape. Recorded on an 8‑track machine, it acts as a raw and honest track: “Throw myself onto the rocks to make you feel less alone”. Ashton himself called it “one of the most emo songs on our album… it makes me believe in 5SOS, and it goes right to my heart when I hear it”.

Finally, ‘Jawbreaker’ closes the record with a bite. Michael Clifford loved it as a closer; it leaves listeners unsettled, amused, and thinking — exactly the point.

Fully Evolved

Tucked into the individual CD releases, the bonus tracks expand the album’s emotional palette. ‘Start Over’ is lush and cinematic, the undeniable standout — drenched in yearning that feels both nostalgic and startlingly fresh, the kind of song that makes you want to rewind your life and kiss someone in the rain. ‘Wishful Dreaming’ drifts into dream‑pop wistfulness; less biting than the core record, but it adds a softer, reflective shimmer to the collection. ‘Chest’ arrives raw and unusual, its unpolished edges making it feel deeply personal — the sort of hidden cut fans treasure for its honesty. Finally, ‘I’ll Find You’ closes with widescreen ambition, a hopeful finale listeners have called “the secret ending we didn’t know we needed”. Overall, Everyone’s a Star! lands like both a punchline and a gut‑punch. It’s bold, self‑aware, and sonically diverse, balancing satire with sincerity, chaos with control. Whether mocking the boyband label or delivering a confessional ballad, 5SOS sound more alive — and more themselves — than ever. It’s not just a comeback; it’s a reclamation. And yes, tickets are already in my cart.