5 Seconds of Summer Shape the Fever of Stardom into Sonic Desire on 'EVERYONE’S A STAR!': Album Review
- Abby Anderson
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Stand-out tracks: "Everyone's a Star!" "NOT OK" "Evolve" "The Rocks"
Our favorites: "Boyband" "I'm Scared I'll Never Sleep Again" "No. 1 Obsession" "Ghost"
Release date: November 14, 2025
Label: Republic Records
For fans of: Arctic Monkeys, Halsey, The 1975
5 Seconds of Summer plastered their name alongside titles like "YOUR NUMBER ONE OBSESSION," "YOUR FAVORITE BOYBAND," and "YOUR NEW RELIGION." As bold, presumptuous, and discreetly intimate as those claims are, their latest album, EVERYONE'S A STAR!, released November 14 on Republic Records, is standing proof that these boys put their money where their mouths are. Concise, flashy, and deliciously dripping in the juiciest of all styles of rock production, EVERYONE'S A STAR! is suspended somewhere between a dismissive submission to the corruption caused by the fear of anonymity and an undercurrent of loneliness in losing yourself in a world that seeks to strip a sense of connection.
As glamorous, rich, and spectacularly dazzling as the facade of stardom, "Everyone's A Star!" is an album opener out of a dream. It modernizes 80s electro-rock with the punch of all-consuming infatuation, summarizing the isolation of that infatuation in every line: "Livin' in the glitter, baby, I don't feel a thing / Everything is better when I don't know what it means." And while the sonic party seems to rage on around Luke Hemmings, Ashton Irwin, Calum Hood, and Michael Clifford, all it takes is one look behind the curtain to know that the plea behind "Everyone's a star / Baby, it's a dream / Show me who you are" is a lot more than a seductive invitation; it's a craving to be seen.
Playing with desire, the string of "NOT OK," "Telephone Busy," and "Boyband" begs on its knees for solace in arms-length love. More than a decade into their career, 5SOS is a long way from their days as teen rockstars who left the world screaming for them every time they walked outside. Now bigger and better than ever, they hold the control in sparking that same frenzy in those in love with the idea of them from a sonic lens, with reverbed vocals on one-liners like "Take my photograph and lick it with a wet tongue" and "Does my memory make you wanna kiss me?" But as the tide turns to "No. 1 Obsession," suddenly it's 5SOS who's on their knees, begging, "Oh, baby, can you sympathize, sympathize, sympathize? / Please, just tell me it's alright / And tell me I'm your type / I'll keep your hunger satisfied." For these guys, it's not enough to be the object of desire anymore.
Dipping into hazy alt-pop through the middle of the record, "I'm Scared I'll Never Sleep Again" ascends into a dreamlike escape of synth guitars and the realization that it doesn't matter that the whole world is screaming your name if there's no one there to see the person behind the star. And with production credits from the legends that are Julian Bunetta and John Ryan, "Ghost" is a nostalgic, gorgeously disorienting realization that in the midst of it all, being seen for your darkest secrets to one person might just be more exposing than having your name in lights.
As with most desires, once they've gotten one hit, it only becomes an addiction. "Evolve" takes a page out of the book of "Girls" by The Dare, with its raucous bassline, grungey synths, and lyrics laced with debauchery so fantastic it's not hard to convince us to "Get a pink limousine / Creme de la creme / You know what I mean." But it's not all love and drugs - in fact, reality is a lot less glamorous than 5SOS makes it seem. Turning towards sonics that would be at home on records from rock greats like the Foo Fighters or Soundgarden, 5SOS leaves the flashy pop and sassy quips behind on "The Rocks." In the end, it wasn't fame that led the band to their greatest fears and regrets; it was the fear that the life in the limelight made them just too impossible to love: "I'll tell you I'm lost, end the world alone / Throw myself onto the rocks / To make you feel less alone."
Ending distinctly softer than they started, the whole sonic story, the whole lyrical puzzle, it all falls together in "Jawbreaker." 5 Seconds of Summer are satisfied being your number one obsession. They encourage the bright lights, the adoration, the life lived on the edge. But in a world where everyone's a star, their true dream is finally finding a life that has let them say: "This is evеrything I didn't know I wanted."
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