5 Seconds of Summer Essentials

It may seem like 5 Seconds of Summer appeared from out of nowhere in 2014, but the Sydney pop-rock quartet of Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin had been laying the groundwork for years—first by posting acoustic covers online and later by touring with One Direction. Yet, it was the sheer quality of those initial smashes that fulfilled the prophecy: observe the timeless power-pop riffs and group harmonies amplifying the heady romance of “She Looks So Perfect”, and the folky ruminations detailing heartbreak across “Amnesia”. From there, 5SOS have matured in real time, hitting new emotional depths while exploring electronic textures on 2018’s career-defining anthem “Youngblood” and 2019’s brasher “Teeth”. Then came the pandemic, which inspired more introspective material like 2022’s “COMPLETE MESS”. “Like a lot of people [during lockdown], the only way to look was inward,” Hemmings told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “Well, for us, anyway. Lyrically, looking into everything that’s sort of happened to us has been a big topic.” What’s happened to them since then is the inevitable march of solo careers, with Clifford and Hood joining early breakouts Irwin and Hemmings on that front in 2025. But the door remains open for 5SOS as a robust home base where the four can bring out the best in each other.