5 Seconds of Summer is taking a dark turn.
On Thursday, the band dropped their new single “Easier” — a somber, moody track about being stuck in a toxic relationship — and an accompanying music video.
In the Grant Singer-directed MV, the musicians perform in a cave as they struggle against being tied up, drowning and more.
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“‘Easier’ is the most confident we have been in the first song to be released off of one of our records,” lead vocalist Luke Hemmings says in a statement about the song. “Visually and sonically it feels like we took what we uncovered about ourselves as a band on the last album and honed in on that sound and aura. I truly believe that ‘Easier’ is the beginning of the best era for 5SOS.”
The band — including Hemmings, 22, Michael Clifford, 23, Calum Hood, 23, and Ashton Irwin, 24 — shot the video at the Bronson Caves in Griffith Park and Angeles Abbey Memorial Park in Southern California, and their goal was to “bring back the purely cinematic rush of the epic video I grew up watching in the ’90s,” says Singer, who was inspired by the four elements.
After the song’s release, 5SOS’s fans flooded social media with support for their surprising new sound.
“Honestly #EASIER is so different from anything they’ve ever made but still with that 5sos sounds. And Luke’s voice [has] reached new heights. They all keep getting better and better and I’m honestly here for it all,” wrote one fan.
5 Seconds of Summer will launch their tour with the Chainsmokers in September.