Rating: 8/10
On Friday, 5 Seconds of Summer released its sixth studio album, “EVERYONE’S A STAR!” The band has gone from touring with One Direction as teens to becoming one of the most successful Australian acts of the last decade. In “EVERYONE’S A STAR!” 5SOS revisits its early boy band roots with a sharper twist.
“I wanted to evolve the tongue-in-cheek thing that you hear on the first record,” said drummer Ashton Irwin in an interview with Rolling Stone.
The album begins with a burst of energy through the first few songs, “Everyone’s A Star!,” “NOT OK,” “Telephone Busy” and “Boyband.”
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“Everyone’s A Star!” offers direct commentary on fame, with lines like “Livin’ in the glitter, baby, I don’t feel a thing/ Everythin’ is better when I don’t know what it means,” which point to the issues of self-worth and self-image that accompany celebrity life and reveal the band’s darker, less wholesome perspective on fame.
“Being in the pop world in a band, or a boy band, you attach your self-worth to how many people are looking at you, and how people feel about you as a person, as a musician,” said lead singer Luke Hemmings in a Rolling Stone interview.
5SOS introduced some new characters to the game with this album, pairing new producers with alter egos in punk attire that let the band members poke fun at the identities the industry tried to assign them. Personalities like “the funny one” or “the quiet one,” which were once used to box them in, have now become a satirical playground they channel on this album.
“NOT OK” leans into personal vices, grit and a loss of innocence, with a line like, “Bite the apple, baby,” hinting at temptation and the pull toward self-destructive habits.
“Boyband” critiques the commodification of artists, particularly those pushed into the “boy band” mold. As criticism of exploitation in the music industry becomes more common, 5SOS adds its grievances. The song gestures at the sexualization of young artists with lines like, “Take my photograph and lick it with a wet tongue” and “Stay young, love me till I get it wrong.”
The album then shifts to a more somber tone for the next three songs. “I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again” mourns a breakup through two spoken-word verses, as if writing a letter to a former lover, putting an extra personal touch on the sentiment.
This album felt like a natural progression from 5SOS5, yet in some ways also like a step into a completely different world of the band’s music altogether. It is an unprecedented new chapter in the 5SOS catalog.
It seems clear that the band members did their homework and relistened to their old albums and interviews, reliving their glory days. An attempt at nostalgia can be risky, especially if it’s not executed correctly, but the band hit the nail on the head with this album.
The last five songs transition to more of a wake-up call — a self-reflective tone, following the wild and excitable first few songs. Themes of regret and self-sabotage season the middle of the album leading up to the more self-effacing end. The narrative of the album is clean and clear, and, true to 5SOS, always evolving.
On Monday, 5SOS released a deluxe version of the album, “EVERYONE’S A STAR! (Fully Evolved)” with four extra tracks, a nuanced addition to an already comprehensive record.
The band achieves the perfect balance of satire, originality and nostalgia in every aspect. Its neon branding, the music videos for its singles and the songs are all fun and enjoyable. The new rock edge the band has embraced as an homage to its past image evokes memories of the past and present.
The band’s survival past the boy band craze of the 2010s largely stems from the band members’ enduring friendships with one another since high school and their willingness to grow alongside their fanbase. An electric new sound illuminates the band members’ efforts to take their craft seriously but not themselves.
“Being in this long enough, and knowing our fan base long enough, we can talk about the ups and downs of not just ourselves as humans, but the course of our career,” said guitarist Michael Clifford in the Rolling Stone interview.
