5 Seconds Of Summer - 'Boyband'
Ahead of their forthcoming sixth studio album, Everyone's A Star!, 5 Seconds Of Summer have dropped their latest single, ‘Boyband’.
Fourteen years after their humble beginnings in suburban Sydney, 5 Seconds of Summer have proven that longevity in pop music doesn’t have to mean creative stagnation. Their new single, ‘Boyband’, released ahead of their upcoming album due November 14 via Republic Records, is a witty, self-aware, and irresistibly confident statement from a group who have spent their careers walking the tightrope between pop accessibility and rock credibility.
With their new single ‘Boyband’, 5 Seconds of Summer pull off something rare: a pop act laughing with the culture that shaped them, not at it. From the very first synth pulse, ‘Boyband’ feels like a sonic wink to the past and a sharp nod to the present. For a group often labelled and occasionally dismissed as a ‘boyband’, 5SOS flip the term into a badge of honour. The song’s bright, hook-heavy energy suggests a band entirely comfortable in their own skin, unbothered by genre constraints or public perception. In a culture that thrives on categorisation, the quartet remind us that labels can be tools of empowerment rather than limitation.
Where earlier records like Youngblood and CALM leaned into emotional sprawl, this new chapter feels distilled: lean, sardonic, and self-assured. The lyrics bristle with tongue-in-cheek self-mythology, “Same four chords, but it never feels the same”, as if the group were writing their own rockumentary in real time. Beneath the satire, though, there’s warmth. ‘Boyband’ is an ode to fans as much as it is a reclamation of identity, a knowing wink to the relationship that’s sustained them.
The track is loaded with both nostalgia and rebellion. Lines like “Raised on pop punk and bubblegum / Stay young, love me till I get it wrong” encapsulate the paradox of 5SOS’s identity: a band built on youthful exuberance, now mature enough to laugh at their own mythmaking. There’s a refreshing honesty here, a sense that the band is no longer trying to prove themselves as ‘real musicians’ but instead embracing the full spectrum of what they are: pop stars, rockers, entertainers, and storytellers.
‘Boyband’ is also a subtle commentary on fame and image. The playful absurdity of “Take my photograph and lick it with a wet tongue” and “Love me when I’m skinny and we never, ever age” teases the idolization that has always come with pop stardom. It’s self-reflexive without being cynical, a celebration of their surreal, glitter-coated reality rather than a rejection of it. In this way, 5SOS channels the best kind of self-awareness: they can laugh at themselves while still delivering a song that hits every emotional and melodic mark.
‘Boyband’ borrows the polish of 2000s pop with the attitude of early 2010s punk revival, all wrapped in a modern alt-pop sheen. The production is sleek but never sterile, synths shimmer, drums punch through with clean precision, and Luke Hemmings’ vocals glide between playful irony and genuine vulnerability. The chorus, punctuated by the chant of “Boy in a boyband, imaginary boyfriend,” bursts with knowing humour. It’s tongue-in-cheek and self-deprecating, but also deeply affectionate, a love letter to the fans who’ve grown alongside them and the pop culture mythos that’s defined them.
In reclaiming the ‘boyband’ label, 5 Seconds of Summer do more than just poke fun at old stereotypes; they reframe them. They prove that being in a boyband doesn’t preclude artistry, that pop and rock can coexist, and that confidence often comes from acceptance rather than defiance. ‘Boyband’ is a reminder that evolution in music doesn’t always mean reinvention; sometimes it means rediscovery.
Clocking in under three minutes, it’s a perfect pop experiment: punchy, polished, and knowingly unserious. 5SOS aren’t running from their past; they’re remixing it. In turning a once-dismissive label into a power move, the band prove that pop, punk, and irony can coexist beautifully. ‘Boyband’ is a statement: clever, catchy, and entirely theirs.
Words by Danielle Holian
