On Friday, March 27th, 5 Seconds of Summer released their 4th album CALM. Since they would normally do a big show to accompany the release, they had a live stream in its place at Midnight Eastern Time, hosted by Ashton, on their Instagram and celebrated their release with nearly 60,000 fans at the peak.
I haven’t been very invested in the boys’ lives in the past few years after outgrowing my fangirl phase — I’m sure many of us are in the same boat — but I have consistently kept up with their music and supported them, so here is an honest review of their latest album from an OG fangirl.
The beat is very catchy and by the time it got to the chorus, it sounded like what is the typical 5sos song currently. Near the end, the song has an interesting music break but I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily a special song apart from being number one on the album.
This song was released alongside the album being announced back in February. I truly love the sound of this song; the vocals and lyrics are just beautiful. I’m torn between wanting to sing this one in the shower and imagining a fun summer night just blaring this as the sun sets.
This is a special song to the guys and all of us who have been around for the majority of their career, and the lyric and music videos are extremely emotional. The music is once again fairly typical but the vocals had a little bit of a twist. This is another song to just sing and jam to.
This was the first song released from this album nearly a year ago. I’m sure we can all remember this being played on the radio just about every hour. It definitely is a pop single because of the sound and how catchy it is.
Most known for being featured in 13 Reasons Why, this is one of the most unique songs and one of my favorites from their newer sound. It includes some of their best vocals on this album. The lyrics are literal art.
This is the last song pre-released before the album. The music and the lyrics contradict each other but work so well together. I feel like this is going to be one of the best live performances. The overall sound reminds me of their older music — with a different focus this could’ve very well been released a few years ago. My favorite thing about this is the fact that it features Calum, since even though Luke is the lead singer, the vocals used to be more spread out than they have been recently.
From song titles alone this was the one I was most looking forward to. It is also Michael and Luke’s favorite from the album. It is really beautiful and different from the rest of the album. This is the kind of song for when you are in your feels.
This song is an absolute bop. From the beginning, This song is going to sound amazing and be so much fun when they are able to perform live. Lyrically I am going to say this is my favorite one, but the lyrics do also remind me of 5SOS back in the day and their style.
It sounds quite similar to the other songs on this album but very different from past music. This is also lyrically amazing and beautifully recorded. The bass is very prominent and leads to a unique sound.
This one appears to be a fan favorite. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from the title, but it wasn’t what I got. I am going to say this is also one of my higher-ups on this album.
The drums were also very prominent in this song. At first, I just didn’t see anything special about this song. Had it been featured earlier I probably would’ve liked it more but there aren’t many completely upbeat songs. The song does turn around a little bit into it which was satisfying.
This was the first song written for the album and has insane chords. I could feel the emotion more prominently and it was the perfect song to end the album.
Overall, it was definitely worth staying up until 2 am to finish the live stream and hear the album as it first released. Tears were shed, songs were added to playlists and I can say my favorites were Wildflower (gotta love Calum), Not in the Same Way, and No Shame.
They have come a long way since the She Looks So Perfect days that lead them to their big breakthrough. From someone who has been around from the beginning I can honestly say that their sound is completely different, but even if you haven’t been a fan of 5SOS for a while — or even ever — this album is worth checking out.
As of right now, they are still set to be touring the album this summer but this could change at any time.