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Now they’re having a laugh about it on their comeback album Everyone’s A Star, featuring a song called Boyband. Dig a little deeper into the lyrics and the band who rocketed to global success a decade ago - 18 million albums, 11 billion streams, six million concert tickets - is also having a humorous dig at the parasocial relationship between fans and pop stars. The same subject crops up on No.1 Obsession, a song which features on the sixth 5SOS album, released on November 14. “The lyrical content of those songs is really about the parasocial relationship and the iPhone screen being people’s only source of dopamine and serotonin, and kind of getting into the psychological side of fan culture in the digital age we’re in right now,” drummer Ashton Irwin said. “It’s amazing source material to write about too, because it is confusing and can be painful because your version of self is built from what people think about you sometimes.” Irwin, frontman Luke Hemmings, guitarist Michael Clifford and bassist Calum Hood have launched the record during a whirlwind promotional tour in Australia this week in defiance of the rumours they were splitting up as the four members released solo records over the past two years. While the world speculated on the band’s future, and in between their solo endeavours, the four musicians were secretly working on the new record. They’ve also had fun with the split rumours in a mock press conference video to announce their Everyone’s A Star world tour. “We were planning to stay together so the narrative (about splitting) that the world was pushing on us was became way too useful for us to use for when we did come back,” Irwin said. Hemmings said even as they released their solo records, and both he and Clifford became first-time dads, the four mates were catching up once a week. As well as long conversations about the songs and musical direction for the new record, Irwin said they would get deep about legacy now they are six albums into their career. And the much darker subject of what would happen to the band should one of them die. “It might sound really old of me to say but we’d ask what’s our Back in Black album (AC/DC’s seminal record) and do we have a chance at having anything like that,” Irwin said. “And I always say to the guys if I die, keep going. The drummers always go first! “Seriously, if I were to pass or something, I wouldn’t want them to give it up because it’s our life’s work.” 5SOS fans have opinions on the band’s new look, a hyper-stylised, neon and punk version of a pop star. “The whole thing is playing with is this a bit, or is this what they’re like?” Hemmings said. “It’s just like supposed to be a larger than life version of ourselves. It’s entertainment.” Tickets for the shows in October next year are on sale from October 31.
