My Thoughts On 5 Seconds Of Summer’s Album ‘Youngblood’
5SOS are back, and arguably better than ever. Here's my take on their third album
If you haven't heard, 5 Seconds of Summer released a third album on June 15th. Youngblood, an album three long years in the making, is the band’s most unique album, and it’s the one they say they’re the most proud of. After listening to the songs on repeat for a few days, I’ve decided to share my thoughts with the world on this new piece of art, track by track, created by my favorite Australian dudes.
1. "Youngblood"
The album's title-track and first song is perfect for dancing. It sets the tone for the album and who the band has grown to be after their unofficial hiatus. It talks about an unhealthy but addictive relationship, which is toxic but you don’t want to give it up, either. The harmonies are delicious, as are the high notes and falsettos. The bassline is powerful, so shoutout to my boy Calum (the bassist of the band).
2. "Want You Back"
According to 5SOS themselves, in many an interview, this song was the last they wrote for the album, yet it was their debut single for it. Personally, I enjoy the lyrics—which feel raw, real, and reminiscent—and I enjoy that the band made a song that encompasses so well who they’ve grown into as artists. Some lyrics that stick out to me are “no matter how long you're gone, I'm always gonna want you back / no matter where I go, I’m always gonna want you back,” and “you know even when I say I've moved on, yeah I still dream for you.”
The emotions that the song is about are during the stage when you know it's over, but you'll always wonder if it could've lasted. You’ll always want them back, no matter how many new people you meet or how many other loves you have, you’ll always love that old love that’s long gone.
This track also showcases that 5SOS learned piano, which is a new component to their music to enhance their new ‘new wave’ sound (mixed with a million other things). Another component I appreciate is the new sounds like the electronic/synth ones and the piano combined with old, familiar, notably 5SOS-esque ones like guitar/drums.
3. "Lie to Me"
Those high notes still get to me and make me feel things. They implement harmonies throughout the song in all the right places, something they’ve cited as a Beatles-era part to their music that they’ve found a way to bring to modern-sounding songs.
Lie to Me has a strong melancholy flavor with lyrics like "now I wish we never met, 'cause you're too hard to forget,” and is an all around worthwhile listen and well-deserving of the third spot on the track-list.
4. "Valentine"
Valentine is one of my personal favorites off the album. It has sounds and instrumentals that remind me of bands like Arctic Monkeys and Panic! at the Disco. It’s dark and modern, and oh-so-different from anything 5SOS has done before. Valentine is about a true, realistic love. It is a love that doesn’t need materialistic things or tokens of affection (“throw balloons, teddy bears, and chocolate eclairs away”), but it still doesn’t come short of being hot, passionate, or loving (“so deep, fueling the fire until we combust,” “got nothing but love for you, fall more in love every day”).
5. "Talk Fast"
This is another dance-worthy, upbeat song. It also feels (oddly) like something from the 80’s to me. Talk Fast is about a desperate pining after someone who doesn’t want to give you the time of day.
“Don’t say you’re doing me a favor
Why so complicated? Won’t you throw me a bone?”
6. "Moving Along"
This is my favorite track off Youngblood. Moving Along is a quirky tune, powered by strong guitar and bass, and the drum solos remind me of an old 5SOS song, End Up Here. The sixth track is about a love you didn't realize you felt until it was over and you can’t do anything now but wonder if the other person has moved on yet, but it deals with it in a way that makes me laugh and at the same time makes it feel more relatable. Their references to alcohol and being drunk are also a blatant wake up call to people who haven’t kept up with the band over the years—the lanky teenage boys who opened for One Direction are long gone, replaced by young men who still play their own instruments, but now have an affinity for beer.
Here are some of my favorite lines to demonstrate these things.
“Is it weird if I’m drunk and on my sofa?
Is it weird if I’m naked on my sofa?”
“Is it bad that I’m wishing you’re still broken?
That you haven’t found fish in the ocean.”
“I know I’m the stupid one who ended it
And now I’m the stupid one regretting it
It took me a couple drinks to admit it”
“Scared of moving on, but you’re already gone
So if you’re moving on, won’t you just tell me?”
7. "Walls Could Talk"
Walls Could Talk is another song off the album that’s, again, oddly dark, not necessarily lyrically, but it just sounds more grungy and more inspired by bands less like All Time Low and more like The Rolling Stones. I can still hear guitar, which is something that’s been prominent in all 5SOS music, ever, so you know it’s still them making the music. The lyrics are another reminder that the band has grown up and lived their lives during their time out of the music charts.
“If these walls could talk
I hope they wouldn't say anything
‘Cause they've seen way too many things"
So, apparently, they’ve done some not-very-well-behaved things that they don’t want the world to know about.
Another lyric I’d like to share is, "not everything is so primitive, but I’m giving in,” just because I like it.
8. "Better Man"
Better Man gives me vibes that feel vaguely Ed Sheeran-y and also like The Beatles. It’s a song that’s true to their instrument-based roots but still gives off enough pop-sound to make it more sellable to the average music consumer.
9. "More"
More dives back into the darker sound, away from the top 40 readiness in some of the other songs. It feels inspired by The 1975 and is about a love that's just not working anymore and you don't really know why, so it’s telling a lot of the same story that the rest of the album is—a former love that you kind of can’t get over.
10. "Why Won’t You Love Me"
This song is basically how I feel about the band (kidding ((kind of (((I’d love if they loved me)))))). It’s a story of leaving getting on a plane and being away from someone you love, but it appears that, in the song, the other person doesn’t love you back. Why Won’t You Love Me shows a contrast to Beside You and Close As Strangers two older 5SOS songs, which are both also about airports/flights/traveling taking you away from someone you care about, but in this song the feelings between the two people are different and there's a disconnect because with this song, they both seem to have feelings for each other maybe but they aren't in an actual relationship.
11. "Woke Up In Japan"
When I first heard the song, I thought, “but is someone in the band in a secret relationship with Shawn Mendes?” because of one of Shawn’s latest hits, Lost in Japan. However, that’s not what I’m writing about, so that’s all I’ll say about that. Woke Up In Japan is about the morning after a night out and waking up, “feeling low, feeling lonely.” This could be a hangover, or it could be waking up sober and remembering why you drank in the first place, or a mixture of the two. I feel like this song is just begging to have a dubstep remix made of it, and it could turn into a killer party song.
12. "Empty Wallets"
Empty Wallets is perhaps an homage to Money, a song from the last album, but is definitely about living life to the fullest with or without money—dance on the empty wallet or get too high when you get high. Make the best of it, especially when you’re with someone great.
13. "Ghost of You"
Ghost of You is the song on the album that makes you cry and probably will make you cry every time you listen to it. Again, it appears to be about a great love with a nasty breakup. It’s about how hard it is to live a life you used to share without the person you used to share it with and how you're coping.
“Dancing through our house with the ghost of you
[..]
But my feet don’t dance like they did with you.”
"Too young, too dumb to know things like love.
Iknow better now."
The didn't know how to love when they started, but now they do, but the truth is the other person is gone. And that sucks. And you feel how much that sucks when you listen to it, and that’s a pretty powerful thing.
14. "Monster Among Men"
I like the jump from verse to chorus to verse etc. in Monster Among Men. It has good vibes and an upbeat tune, even though it's about how you're a bad person who doesn't want to hurt a good person... but, then again, that maybe makes you a good person, because you acknowledge that you don't want to hurt someone else. Its lyrics and deeper meaning are sort of subtle, even if the title makes it obvious, because of the upbeat-ness, which makes it a bit more complex to me. shows enough love for another person that you want them to be happy even if it's not with you.
“I won’t break your heart again
I don’t wanna be a monster among men.”
I also feel like this song lowkey acknowledges that the 5SOS/celebrity lifestyle (partying, traveling, partying) isn't good for most people, and ‘being with them’ (romantically) is rarely a good idea for another person. Being in the spotlight like they are, having public exposure and influence, they’ve probably got their guards up after being taken advantage of, and being in the public eye like that isn’t always good for other people either. I think it’s just interesting to remember these things when we all sit and fantasize about dating our favorite actor, football players, singers, etc., when that wouldn’t necessarily be an easy life to live. Perhaps there’s a reason they drink and party so much.
15. "Meet You There"
First off, the instrumentals are crazy in this and I’d love to hear it live. The only thing I’ve really got to say about Meet You There is that I like that it mentions a personal philosophy I’ve learned from my mom: if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. Or, in Spanish, “que será, será.”
“So you go your way, and I’ll go mine
And if we’re meant to, I’ll meet you there
No, we can’t speed up the hands of time
But if we’re meant to, I’ll meet you there.”
16. "Babylon"
My babe Calum Hood sings the lead for it, so it automatically has positive points in my book. Babylon shows that maybe 5SOS know something about history because they acknowledge that the relationship is over, but it used to be good. Babylon is an important ancient city that's not a city anymore (unlike Rome, for example, which is still a city), so their ‘hidden’ metaphor/symbolism is fairly unique. It’s about a love that pushed itself past its limits, and that’s why it ended.
“Burnt too bright
Now the fire’s gone
Watch it all fall down
Babylon.”
