DAY FIVE OF 5SOS WEEK: A CALMER PLACE BLOOMS!

Hello stars, and welcome to Day Five of 5SOS Week!  Today we’re taking a journey into CALM, full of blue hair dye, Zoom promotion calls, and the days of Carpool Karabloke! In a time where we were stuck inside 5SOS brought us comfort and amazing songs.

The second part of this article will be about the one and only Ashton Irwin’s debut solo album Superbloom and the Superbloom Live Experience, a completely different direction than the band’s music. Superbloom has impacted us all.

CALM (2020)

Think back to 2020 for a moment, a time full of people embracing differences and being locked indoors. For 5SOS this was a creative period. In a time where everyone was trying to find out who they truly were, 5SOS were experimenting with a new sound, different from any of their other albums.

CALM was a weird time for music, especially for any promotional purposes, but 5SOS saw this and took matters into their own hands. Covid-19 heavily impacted any promotion 5SOS had planned, but instead of letting it stop them, they embraced it. 5SOS did things like Zoom Meetings, Q & A's on Twitter, and radio interviews, etc.

CALM uses synthesizers and heavier bass lines to really power the song, A great example of this is Teeth. Teeth has a carrying bassline throughout the song that really gives it this driving power that just feels like ear candy.

Something that really stands out is the Wildflower music video, it really embraces and captures the song as a whole and the time it was made. 5SOS recorded this music video from their homes, on their phones, and sent the clips to Andy DeLuca and Sarah Eiseman, who added the art and edits. This music video is so unique and such a stand-out.

CALM really does have it all, and every song on this album is unique in its own way.  It’s beautiful and suited to everyone

Superbloom

Ashton Irwin's debut solo project features emotionally charged and unfiltered lyrics.

“Scar” explores the profound impact of life's challenges, emphasizing the importance of resilience and support from friends and family. The song reflects both Irwin's personal struggles and the collective strength of the family unit during adversity. The lyrics, “There's no need to say goodbye when the world leaves a scar. It's a painful thing to try grit your teeth another time,” underscore the difficulty of enduring hardship.

“Have U Found What Ur Looking For?” addresses the persistence required to overcome internal fears and doubts. The recurring question, “Have you found what you’re looking for?” serves as both an inquiry and a mantra, encouraging self-reflection and perseverance. Lines such as “I could harvest every dream I've ever had” and “I'm hoping that maybe one day it could start to make sense” articulate the ongoing struggle for meaning. The lyric “won't someone show me the way, won't someone show me who I am” captures the internal dialogue and anxiety associated with searching for direction.

“Skinny Skinny” examines the experience of body dysmorphia and the struggle to feel comfortable in one's own body. The mirror is depicted as a site of conflict, fostering uncertainty about self-acceptance. Lyrics such as “hey skinny skinny don't you think about the future” and “hey skinny skinny stop your thinking ‘bout tomorrow” illustrate the consuming nature of disordered eating and the sense of hopelessness it can create. The song’s melancholic arrangement conveys the depth of Irwin’s struggles, at times allowing the voice of body dysmorphia to emerge. The line “my damn reflection we always meet when I'm defeated” encapsulates the exhaustion and self-criticism that accompany these experiences, while “I wanna eat, I wanna stay thin” succinctly expresses the internal conflict.

“Greyhound” explores the relentless pursuit of progress, drawing a parallel between the competitive world of greyhound racing and the pressures of striving for success in life. Irwin’s anecdote about training greyhounds, where only first place matters, mirrors the feeling of running as if one’s life depends on it. Lyrics such as “tiny broken parts of me blistered, broken glass underneath my feet” and “keep on trying to move forward, I never want to go back” encapsulate the exhaustion and determination inherent in this struggle.

Matter of Time interlude is about letting things go because everything in life is just a season, and whether it's good or bad, at the end of the day, “it's all just a matter of time.” The whole track is layered with an ethereal delicacy. “Don’t you burn it down” talks about not letting your own mind sabotage the good things you have in your hands. “Darkness shows up, don’t you let it grow” also reflects this, showing that you just need to turn the other way to face the light, which is the perfect segue into sunshine.

“Sunshine” acknowledges the darkness present in the world while emphasizing the importance of appreciating small moments of joy, as expressed in the lyric “See the sunshine just like the first time.” The song also critiques the performative aspects of social media and the experience of living inauthentically, illustrated by lines such as “I've been living my life, but it's not how it looks” and “you've been feeding me lies, now it's all that I know.” Written during the pandemic, the track reflects feelings of confinement and isolation, as captured in “I've been living my life in a tiny toolbox now I'm locked in the house like I live in Fort Knox.”

“The Sweetness” examines the complexities of aging and the loss of innocence, as reflected in the lines “I was a child unbruised, no pain. I was a child flawless, no shame.” Irwin has noted that the track was influenced by experiences with antidepressants and SSRIs. The chorus, “when the sweetness seeps into your bloodstream,” evokes the initial relief provided by medication, while “when the darkness creeps into your basement, when the darkness takes it all away again” conveys the return of depressive symptoms as the effects diminish. The lyric “pill with a smile controls your brain, think for a while, are you still sane” addresses the cyclical nature of medication use and the misconception of being “cured,” highlighting the ongoing struggle with mental health.

Famously described by Ashton as his “mushroom trip song,” “I’m To Blame” is an exploration of perspective. “It sounds like madness and I’m to blame,” acknowledges that sometimes our journeys won’t make sense to others and that’s okay. With layered sounds and gentle, steady vocals, it captures the fluid chaos of self-discovery. “Hear the whispers in the rain” and “I’m to blame (I showed you the light)” feel both surreal and grounding, like a quiet revelation in motion.

“Drive” is one of the most personal songs on Superbloom. It’s about grief, and how love persists through it. “I know that you’re hurting, I know you still care” recognizes that pain has no timeline. “We could work it all out, tell me where it hurts most,” reflects the helplessness of wanting to save someone drowning in sorrow. Ashton described “We could tie another knot between us” as a lyric about resilience  that even in the darkest moments, connection keeps us tethered to life. “We could just drive” becomes a simple act of love: we don’t need to talk, we don’t need to fix it, just be together. Sometimes presence is the only thing that can quiet the storm.

“Perfect Lie” closes the record with introspection. “Mistakes are the stories that take us straight to the stage; it’s the heartaches that sell.” It’s a raw acceptance of how art is born from imperfection and how even the pain has its purpose.

Superbloom: A Live Experience

Ashton’s live performances of Superbloom took everything to another level. Joined by Kingstarlight, the Superbloom: Live Experience offered powerful renditions of “Scar,” “Have U Found What Ur Looking For,” “Skinny Skinny,” “Greyhound,” “Matter of Time,” “Sunshine,” “The Sweetness,” “I’m to Blame,” “Drive,” and “Perfect Lie.” The set also included a haunting cover of Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box,” showcasing Ashton’s grunge influences and vocal strength. Each live track deepened the emotional weight of the record, intimate, cathartic, and beautifully human.

And that's been today's dose of the sauce.