Five Seconds of Summer’s Ashton Irwin is going it alone with Superbloom, his debut solo album.
The Aussie singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist cut the LP at his L.A. home in February, as the health crisis created some unexpected downtime.
Irwin grabbed the opportunity to push himself, as he embarked on a deep dive into his own life and experiences.
The result, a statement explains, is a “deeply personal, evocative and uncompromising” album, its 10 tracks exploring his childhood, alcoholism, depression, body dysmorphia, death, addiction, despair and hope.
“I had to reach a certain level of lyrical maturity in order to write about something I actually cared about,” he explains. “I think it’s always important as an artist to have a mission statement, like, ‘why do you make music? Why do you write the lyrics you write?’”
Superbloom is due to drop Oct. 23. The first track from it is “Skinny Skinny,” a smart slice of folk-pop inspired by a conversation he had with his teenage brother on body image.
“Skinny Skinny” arrived Thursday and can be streamed in full below.
Irwin got the thumbs up from his bandmates. “I wasn’t scared because I’d told myself, ‘trust yourself, you’re proud of this record and you know these guys are your best mates and they will f—ing get it,'” he explains. Playing the album to the lads “was awesome, I felt stoked to show them”.
The Sydney pop-rock outfit smashed records as each of their first three albums bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Their latest, CALM, opened at No. 2 on the national albums chart in April of this year.
‘Superbloom’ tracklist
Scar
Have U Found What Ur Looking For
Skinny Skinny
Greyhound
Matter Of Time
Sunshine
The Sweetness
I’m To Blame
Drive
Perfect Lie
