Michael Clifford Releases Debut Single
5 Seconds of Summer’s Michael Clifford has unveiled their debut single “Cool”.
- Read more: 5 Seconds of Summer dubbed the worst NME group in the world three times
About The Track
“Cool” serves as the first glimpse of Clifford’s upcoming debut album titled “Sidequest”, set to be released through Hopeless Records, although a specific release date has yet to be announced.
The track showcases a polished pop-rock sound that reflects Clifford’s insecurities, as he laments: “She reads my mind, she knows that I / I overestimate what I’m trying to say (Am I cool enough? Am I cool enough?)”
Clifford also humorously calls himself “The guy who caught fire with colored hair”—a reference to an incident where he was burned by pyrotechnics during a 5SOS show at Wembley Arena in London in 2015. The musician reassured fans on social media the following day that he was “OK”.
Listen to the track below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_RTX77MKIS
Members’ Solo Projects and Reflections
The Australian guitarist is the third member of 5 Seconds of Summer to release solo material, following drummer Ashton Irwin’s “Superbloom” in 2020 and frontman Luke Hemmings’ “When facing things we reject” in 2021.
In a 2022 interview with NME, the band discussed being labeled the worst group in the world three times. “You all called us the worst group, and this affects the guys,” Irwin joked. “When you’re 17 or 18, being in the ‘worst group’ is tough to hear, but when you’re 28, you think, ‘What? That’s cool!’”
“But this serves as an example of how public perception can impact the band’s dynamics.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo6fsyajrb0
At that time, the group was preparing to release their fifth studio album, ‘5SOS5’. Hemmings noted in the same interview that “in many respects, this album feels like our debut. Our first was created while we were living in London, feeling lost, but now we have this freedom we didn’t have before.”
“I think that really shines through in the lyrics: everything has changed, yet nothing has changed for us. It’s been refreshing to feel that we can navigate this journey on our own.”
In other news, Billie Joe Armstrong revealed that he originally wrote a song for Green Day that was meant for 5 Seconds of Summer.
https://www.nme.com/news/music/5-seconds-of-summers-michael-clifford-releases-introspective-debut-single-cool-3851506?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-seconds-of-summers-michael-clifford-releases-introspective-debut-single-cool
