With the announcement of their newest album, “Youngblood”, to be released June 22, 2018, 5 Seconds of Summer have faced a large amount of criticism and very strong responses as a result of their transformed sound and appearance. They are swapping not only their ripped, skinny jeans and rock-based influences, but their entire sound for those that are much more popular within the radio communities and appealing to the summer-festival aesthetic lovers.

As a group that has always been stuck somewhere between their D.I.Y garage band Australian roots and the reputation that has sprouted with them as “the new boy band that opened for One Direction for two years”, they have had many different genres and paths available to them. Based off of their two newest singles, “Want You Back” and “Youngblood”, it seems as if they are finally figuring out how to navigate these two opposites and truly determine what their general sound is headed towards. As of right now, each song is seeming as if it could very well be “Song of the Summer”, which would make it  the perfect soundtrack to the bright, lighthearted, happy times and moods of summer.

Despite some of the emotional and heart-wrenching lyrics in each song, these are often easily overlooked by the strong, upbeat choruses, since one would not suspect it to be a sad song in any way. Although hidden, these lyrics are some of the strongest indications of their growth as a band from the their previous releases, where deeply emotional tracts were few and far between.  By experimenting with these new songwriting techniques and heavy pop influences, it is obvious that they are proving themselves to be much more than just one hit wonders or simply another boy band by expanding their audience and appealing to not only their original fans, but also new listeners.

Although these singles may have not taken off and became instant hits, as many may have expected them to grow extremely popular quickly, they were still able to sell out their small venue, general admission, promotional U.S. tour within minutes, and announced their full U.S. tour to be taking place within the late summer and early fall, after the release of their third studio album. On this short promotional tour, they also have played a few unreleased songs off the album, such as “Valentine”, “Moving Along”, and “Lie to Me”, which all fit with the same concepts and upbeat sound of the two released songs. Going off what has been assumed and released about the album so far, it is seeming as if it will likely be their strongest and most well developed, based off the amount of time that has been put into it during their short hiatus.

Regardless of 5 Seconds of Summer keeping up with these pop and radio-loving singles or whether they decide to return to their original Blink-182 and All Time Low-influenced EPs, this album is possibly one of their most promising albums as of right now, considering this is one of the most crucial times in determining their sound and setting themselves apart from every other upcoming group.