For the first time since their fifth studio album “5SOS5” was released in September 2022, 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS) has surprised fans by releasing new music. The band is featured on Galantis’ new single “Lighter” alongside David Guetta. Produced by Galantis’ Christian Karlsson and 5SOS’ guitarist Michael Clifford, “Lighter” signifies a crossing over into new territory for the band.
5SOS — an Australian band composed of Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, Ashton Irwin and Michael Clifford — have only stepped into the world of collaboration a few times, the most recent being “Who Do You Love” with The Chainsmokers in 2019.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Clifford spoke about the band’s 12-year-long career and what making and releasing new music means to them.
“That’s always the mindset that we’ve had since day one of our career. We never say no to anything that feels like it could be a step in the right direction in helping other people — who have never heard of us — hear our music,’” he said.
Clifford also spoke about the band’s anxiety around releasing music with other artists in previous years and why “Lighter” was such an exciting moment for them.
“We have severe anxiety that no one likes us. So when people say they would like to collaborate with us, we really love it,” he said. “We definitely like experimenting in different worlds as well.’”
As a huge fan of 5SOS, I agree with Clifford that “Lighter” is something different for the band. It leans heavily into the bright hyper-pop sounds that Galantis and David Guetta are most known for. That is not to say I didn’t enjoy the song. I definitely did, and would frankly enjoy and defend anything 5SOS released.
I would say I prefer the sounds that 5SOS typically leans into, especially on “5SOS5” and one of their more popular albums, “Youngblood,” but I really love that they are continuing to experiment with music and are keeping the joy of making new music alive within the band.
4/5 stars
mkane10@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy @weargalantis, Instagram
