Katerina Rodriguez/Contributing Writer
After a long awaited two years, 5 Seconds of Summer has released their fourth studio album, “CALM”, whose name was coined by fans at the start of their career. Each letter of the title represents the first letter of the members names and also happens to be a very important word considering current events like a global pandemic. What the pop band did not expect was for the album to speak volumes during a time in history when what people needed was to remain “calm.”
Luke Hemmings, the lead vocalist, says that the meditation app called Calm is “a tool I use to help me with my own mental health.” Prior to the release of the album, the band released a four-track remix collection via the meditation app to help people relax. The songs “Easier,” “Old Me,” “Red Desert,” and “Best Years,” are also featured in the new album.
The entire tone of the album is tranquil and serene, like one giant journey into “our feels.” Although unintentional, this album is the perfect release for fans at a time of worldwide pandemic. It reminds us all to take time for ourselves during social distancing, and remember what is important in life, including natural beauties such as the “Red Desert,” the first song on the album.
The two singles that first dropped last year, “Easier,” released 10 months ago, and “Old Me,” just a month ago, have together garnered over 200 million streams on Spotify. “Easier,” in particular, has been covered by various celebrities including James Charles and Lauren Daigle and left fans highly anticipating the full album.
Despite worries by fans and critics that the use of synthetic instrumentation in their third album would negatively affect them, the praise caused them to use it again in this fourth album, while still incorporating real instrumentation conducted by the members: Ashton Irwin on the drums, Michael Clifford on the guitar, and Calum Hood on the bass guitar.
Similarly, although the band wasn’t sure how much attention the album would garner given the current situation in the world, they have said that they were just as excited to release it as their fans, and wanted to give them something to help them through tough times.
The album begins with a few more upbeat songs that are remnant of sounds in their first studio album, 5 Seconds of Summer, like “Good Girls” and “She Looks So Perfect.” These more upbeat songs in the first half of the album include “No Shame,” “Teeth,” and “Not in the Same Way.” They are more heavy in bass guitar and drums than the others, but still follow the general vibe of the album.
Meanwhile, the majority of the album, and all of the second half, recalls a more mature sound of their hit single in 2014, “Amnesia.” The songs “Best Years,” “Lonely Heart,” and “High,” are especially chilling with Hemmings’s vocals and riffs, taking inspiration from sounds from Panic at the Disco! and Kanye West’s “Wolves.”
“CALM” is one album that needs to be heard all at once and can be played on a loop, making you feel like you are Charlie in the film “Perks of Being a Wallflower,” standing up through a car rooftop as the wind blows freely through your hair.
For fans that have followed them for the past six years and counting, this album will surely give them no “Amnesia,” but rather, piece together memories that have contributed to the band’s “Best Years.”
Especially during a time of quarantine and social distancing, for anyone that is looking for the perfect playlist to do yoga to, clean the house or tan out in the backyard, “CALM” has the right sounds to do it all to.
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