It's been over a year since 5SOS5 was released and I'm still not over it! In this blog I will explain why and also what the album has meant to me personally.
In February 2022 5SOS teased a new song. I thought it would be called 'You make me' because that's what it said on TikTok. But turned out the song COMPLETE MESS was coming on 2nd of March. I'll do a breakdown of each song later, but damn!
That was the start of a fantastic era. Later the single 'Take My Hand' followed and the 'Take My Hand' world tour was announced. (I already had tickets since the No Shame tour got cancelled due to COVID-19). But I had never seen them live before...
So after 7 years of being a fan I FINALLY saw them live on 19th April in Amsterdam! I had VIP tickets so me and my friend were able to go the soundcheck and Q&A as well. It was pretty surreal to see them in person after fangirling so hard for so long. They're literally the reason I got into music and they were right there! I even saw Luke looking at me a few times, but that might've been because his face was on my Youngblood shirt :) Anyways the show was great and at the end Ashton tried to throw a drumstick my way but sadly he didn't throw far enough. It was amazing to be seen my heroes though!
After the concert in April the next single 'Me, Myself & I' was announced and GOD I still love that song. It was my favourite song of 2022 and my guitar cover got noticed by the boys as well (twice!). I think they accidentally posted it on their IG stories twice so that's my most watched reel now with 180.000 views.
A little later 'Blender' was released and pretty soon after that the beatiful ballad called 'Older'. Later, on the album release night 5SOS gave a (livestream) concert in the Royal Albert Hall in London. I sadly couldn't get tickets but I had a great time just watching it from home. It was the first time we heard songs like 'Bad Omens', 'Carousel' and 'Caramel'. And it was also pretty emotional to see orchestral renditions of older songs like 'She Looks So Perfect'. The live version of Older together with Luke's fiancé Sierra got me tearing up as well :')
And then after the livestream it was time for the release of the album...
I listened to everything in one go and I think I've listened to 'Best Friends' for like an hour straight haha. Damn just thinking back to it makes me so happy!
On a side note it's also good to give you a little backstory of my life back then. I had just graduated school and quit my job. It left a bit of a hole and I decided I should take advantage of that and go explore the world! In October I flew to Sydney in Australia to go and see where the boys came from. I saw the Annandale Hotel where they played their first show, went to their hometown Quakers Hill and in the end... I saw them play at the Opera House! I really loved seeing all those places with 5SOS as my soundtrack and the concert was one of the best moments of my life! The scene was just great and I got to hear 'Bad Omens' and 'Me, Myself & I' live.
I think I've told enough about why this album means so much to me. Down below I'll try to give a more detailed description of the individual songs and why I love them :)
COMPLETE MESS: The bassline of this song is so addictive! I still play it everytime when I got a guitar near me. Like I said earlier, this song was the start of a fantastic era and it feels nostalgic to listen to it. It never loses it's charm tho! A lot of times I've been wondering if I would choose this song as a first single as well. I mean songs like 'Me, Myself & I' have a lot more radio potential but they don't have that same connection to the essence of this album. Which is that this album was produced by 5SOS themselves! I really love them for that and it shows a lot of growth. Complete Mess is the perfect choice for a first single because it's the first song they produced themselves and Luke, Michael, Calum and Ashton are ALL audible in this song.
Easy For You To Say: The first time I heard this song was on a YouTube video of someone recording the boys on tour. At first I didn't want to listen to unreleased songs but I'm glad I did! This song is one of (many) favourites and I feel so lucky for hearing it live twice!
Bad Omens: I think everyone in the 5SOS family remembers listening to this song for the first time on the Royal Albert Hall livestream. I loved it then and I love it still. The guitar riff in the 2nd verse is one of the many hidden gems in this song and I never skip it! I also love the way this song ends. It doesn't get louder and doesn't have some giant build up. It goes into this whole other section with the boys forming a huge choir and then it all comes down to 'When you love somebody'. And then you hear the same notes as when the song begins. I think this is a nod to the lyric 'We go 'round again', because the songs comes around again as well.
Me Myself & I: Like I mentioned earlier, this song is my favourite song of 2022. I think it's the best single of 5SOS5 and I'm sure I played it a thousand times. Also, the fact that 5SOS reposted my guitar cover of this song was surreal! And then after listening it for so long I heard it live at the Sydney Opera House. Nothing is ever going to top that!
Take My Hand: I feel like this song wouldn't have gotten as much attention if the boys didn't decide to make it a single and the name of their 2022 world tour. But I'm glad they did because it deserves the attention! It's a slow song with a slow build-up but I think it's quite unique. I don't know any song like it and it never fails to give me the chills!
CAROUSEL: This song was also on the Royal Albert Hall livestream and just like 'Bad Omens' I immediately loved it. In a way I think it's quite similar to Bad Omens because of the upbeat style, the deep lyrics and the big breakdown at the end. This song is definitely in my top 5 of this album! It was also amazing to hear it live this October on the 5 Seconds of Summer Show in Amsterdam! (The transition into Who Do You Love was so good as well)
Older: I'm not exactly sure when this song was released but I think it was 2 weeks before the album. It was quite a surprise and also the only slow song on the album. It really stands out because of how emotional it is and I love that Luke sang it with his fiancé. When they sang it together on the livestream my eyes were definitely sweating. I really hope that one day this song might play at my wedding!
HAZE: I like the sort of weirdness of this song. It's special and not like anything 5SOS has done before. I think it's one of those songs that's heavily inspired by Ashton because it sounds like his style. The guitar tone is perfect as well and I hope they make more like this in the future!
You Don't Go To Parties: All I can say is: YES CALUM!!! I love his voice in this one and Ashton's as well. The guitar solo halfway through is great as well and I really want to hear this live again!!!
BLENDER: I always have an odd relationship with this song (in a good way!). The song came out when I had a fight with someone at work and for some reason this song was like therapy. That's good but everytime I hear this song it takes me back to that feeling. Even though it gets better every time haha. The song itself is really great and I love the bassline and the vocals! It makes me want to shout and buy a bass as well :)
Caramel: I believe this song was created with John Feldmann who was also a big part of 'Sounds Good Feels Good'. I like how they came together again and made a whole different type of rock music together!
Best Friends: This song came at the exact right time for me because I was a few weeks away from flying to Australia. I knew I wouldn't see my friends for some time and this song made me appreciate them even more! (And ofcourse it's just extremely catchy.)
Bleach: I think this song is also in my top 5 of this album. It's so vulnerable and beautifully made. I can't really explain it but I will always have time to listen to this one. Playing it on guitar is also a great feeling.
Red Line: Right in between two beautiful songs (Bleach and Moodswings) there's this little gem. I mostly listen to these 3 songs together because they make up a special section on the album. Red Line is also a great song to play on the acoustic guitar and I will never skip it.
Moodswings: I think everyone has the same favourite moment in this song which is around 1:05 when they sing 'I KNOW MY MOODS BEEN SWINGING ALL DAY'. God I love that part. And the song itself is just great because of the combination of all the boys voices. Especially Luke and Michael's really make this song stand out to me.
Flatline: This one really should've been a single! I love it and it gives me Maroon 5 vibes. It's a great summer song so I really did play it all summer :)
Emotions: A lot of people call this the brother of 'Jet Black Heart' and I can see why. It's an emotional song and it just screams 'Michael Clifford' haha. My favourite lyrics are 'I'm doing my best and I guess that's the best I can do'.
Bloodhound: I always think that this song belongs together with 'Flatline'. They're both summer bops and I just want to travel a warm country with this as my soundtrack! I also hope that they will play this live one day.
TEARS!: To be honest this is the ONLY song that I'm not a huge fan of. I think it fits in 5SOS because it's a typical Ashton song and it's also good! But I never really choose to listen to this one. I'm okay with it when it comes on and know all the lyrics but it's not my favourite.
A little bit of a sad ending but my conclusion is that the album is definitely the best 5SOS album. It has the best bits of all their previous work and every member has an influence on this one. It's also pretty amazing that they produced this one themselves! I can't wait to see what they come up with next.
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