5 SECONDS OF SUMMER - EVERYONE’S A STAR!
On Everyone’s a Star!, 5 Seconds of Summer enters their sixth studio album, but not as the same band the world met over a decade ago – they do so as artists who have lived through reinvention, burnout, reconciliation, and growth. The album arrives with an unusual mixture of confidence and vulnerability, polished and playful at the same time, and it quickly becomes obvious that this is a record built on reflection. It examines not only the lives they lead now, but also those lived in the spotlight of fiercest burn.
The very title "Everyone's a Star!” acts as the album's thesis, a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of celebrity, fandom, ego, and the strange democracy of "stardom" today. But behind the humour and neon pop-rock aesthetic lies an unexpectedly emotional core. The band sounds more willing than ever to look at who they were, who they are, and who they refuse to be defined as.
The record opens in a blaze of swagger and satire: loud, self-referential, knowingly dramatic. The band is making fun of the absurdity of fame, but beneath the theatricality, there's a more down-to-earth message about individuality. It's an overture to the album's themes of identity, perception, and reinvention.
A punchy, colourful injection of energy. ‘Jawbreaker’ mixes bright pop-rock with bold attitude for an awakening after the album's darker middle section. It's fun, brash, and catchy in a way that recalls the band's earlier eras while feeling modern and slick.
Thematically, the first stretch of the record digs into identity. Lyrics nod to the band's history, fame's distortions, and the pressure to keep evolving. Yet, the tracks never drown in heaviness even when they explore fear or insecurity, the songs move with a sense of momentum, almost as if the band is urging themselves, and their listeners, to run through the uncertainty rather than shrink beneath it.
One of the striking things about Everyone's a Star! is how seamless its blend of irony and earnestness is. A song that seems like satire on paper often reveals a softer emotional layer on repeat. A track that appears upbeat on the surface might hide confessions of exhaustion or confusion beneath its shimmering production.
This duality becomes a defining strength of the album. Rather than reject the “boyband” label that has followed them for years, 5SOS play with it, twist it, and reclaim it. They acknowledge the world’s perception of them but refuse to be boxed in by it. There’s a sense of liberation in the way they critique their own mythology, never cruelly, but with affection and clarity.
It's in these instances that the band comes off as more honest than ever. The self-deprecating humour is never overpowering of the sincerity at the core of the record; that humour becomes the bridge with which deeper truths of identity, fame, and growth are reached.
As the album moves into its central section, the tempo softens, and the emotional core sharpens. It's here that 5SOS shine most brightly. They have always had a great talent for writing gut-punch choruses, but here the songwriting seems far more lived-in and vulnerable. Songs orbit around themes of fear, longing, and self-doubt; none of these moments feel melodramatic. Instead, there is a quiet confidence in their honesty-an understanding by the band that vulnerability is not a weakness but a form of connection.
Vocally, the group has never sounded better. Harmonies descend and lift with precision, and each member gets moments to shine individually. You can hear their personal creative identities emerging-whether through vocal texture, lyric choices, or instrumental flourishes-while still contributing to a collective, cohesive sound.
Those emotional peaks aren't predicated on grandness, really. They often come via nuances in production: a haunting guitar line; a shifting of vocal delivery from falsetto to strained, cracking belt; a building drum pattern; a final chorus that feels like a release, not an explosion. It's these moments that show a maturity within the band, how apt they are to let space, restraint, and nuance speak just as loud as energy and volume do.
Production-wise, Everyone's a Star! treads an exciting balance between nostalgia and novelty with impressive aplomb, echoing early 2000s pop-rock, flashing moments of modern alt-pop, and touching base with stadium-ready anthemic writing. Yet nothing about the album feels derivative; instead, it's all about the band weaving together the influences that shaped them with the sounds they've grown into.
Guitars can roar once more, but they sit alongside synth textures, punchy basslines, and inventive percussion. The mix leaves space for experimentation without compromising accessibility. Even the most playful tracks feel polished; the most emotional ones feel intentionally raw in all the right places.
The final stretch of the album refuses to taper off; instead, it introduces some of the boldest risks of the project. Here, the band tackles themes of personal reckoning: sleeplessness, self-critique, relational disconnection, and the strange isolation that can accompany success. These tracks burrow into the unsettling quiet that follows the noise of fame-the afterglow, the collapse, the reflection.
Yet the album never becomes bleak. Even in its darkest moments, it feels propelled by a sense that honesty heals. Closing tracks echo the record's first theme: that stardom, both literal and metaphorical, is something everyone experiences in their way. Identity is personal. Growth requires discomfort, and being a "star" isn't about perfection but authenticity. Taken as a whole, Everyone’s a Star! feels like a turning point. It’s not a return to form, because 5SOS have never really lost their form; instead, it’s a synthesis of every version of the band that has existed. It’s clever without being cynical, emotional without being sentimental, and polished without feeling manufactured. More than anything, it's a record made by four artists who trust themselves and trust their audience. It's bold, witty, introspective, and deeply human. With Everyone’s a Star!, 5 Seconds of Summer don't just remind the world who they are, they reveal who they've become.
Kayla Kerridge
★★★★★