An Acronym For Our Times

The title of 5 SOS’s latest album, Calm, has taken on a serendipitous overtone for the Australian pop rock band, says bassist Calum Hood.

It’s taken almost a decade, three studio album releases and relocating to the USA for Sydney boy band 5 Seconds of Summer—or 5SOS as they are better known—to arrive at their fourth album with a new-found perspective.

But in the oddest of timings, the new album titled Calm has landed when we’re all in need of some introspective stillness given the unprecedented pandemic times.

Bassist Calum Hood, who left high school at 16 with his schoolmates in Sydney to relocate to the UK for a few years before moving to the USA, says the band never thought about changing the release date of Calm.

While the title might come across as being quite meditative, it’s actually an acronym for their first names, but Hood says it’s also a timely reminder why we need to be just that in these crazy times.

“We’ve built a career that’s travelled at full speed,” says 25-year-old Hood, who was born in Sydney and now lives in Los Angeles. “The fact we have had to isolate and stay at home and be away from one another has given us the means to learn how to communicate even better with one another. With restaurants, bars and nightclubs closed and venues shut and touring at a standstill, I guess we’re all indoors just waiting for it to go back to normal. The pandemic has forced us to slow down and really reflect on who we are as people, as individuals, and figure the next steps. I think this album will give our fans a chance to listen to the music and see who we are as those people.”