I’m not going to repeat everything the big publications have already said, my intention with this post is to pick apart the album and talk about how I feel about it. Places like Kerrang! and The Zach Sang show, through their own interviews and conversations with Calum, have done a great job at sharing his perspective, and talking about it in a very industry-led way so here’s mine, as a listener – who also works within the industry but much more casually.

Album rating: 4/5 ⭑

‘Don’t Forget you love me’
2/5⭑

I know we’re starting off really poorly, and I can only apologise – however, this is my opinion and it is my least favourite song from the album. What I enjoy in a song, just was not captured in ‘Don’t Forget You Love Me’, it’s redeeming quality is the pre-chorus & the chorus itself, I enjoy the echoey call outs in the chorus and how it gives a feeling of desperation. However, I struggled with the pacing of this song, there are moments where it feels like there’s too many words in a sentence, which made it feel rushed. The tempo doesn’t quite line up right in some places, but I think that ties into the rushed feeling of squeezing too many words in. Ultimately, it just doesn’t hit the spot, which made me a little anxious coming into the album – given it’s the lead single, but I promise it gets better.

Favourite lyric: “While I was running down the wrong street, wrong time, couldn’t make a wrong right”

Call Me when you know better
3/5⭑

Now, contrary to the last song, I really enjoy the pacing of this, I like how we jump right in. The way he’s used ‘tears’ and ‘fears’ in this song, it makes me feel like they should be the other way around – to make more grammatical sense, but I enjoy the messiness it gives – it feels to me like it’s calling back to itself as a concept (aka the chaos of actions and feelings within a relationship). My favourite part of the song is in the second half, when he starts merging 2 different melodies and telling 2 different stories simultaneously, until they break into their own separate parts to close out the song.

Favourite lyric: “I’m tired, you’re only expecting more”

Sweetdreams
3/5⭑

My only issue with this song, is it sounds too repetitive to me. I know songs are repetitive in their nature, but it lacks content for me. The message is loud and clear, but too short. Although I do really enjoy the call and response towards the end of the song, where again, he’s got 2 parts of the song playing against each other. The echos in this song, how his vocals are produced make it sound so angelic and light, like I’m sat at the pearly gates and this is what I’m hearing in the distance.

Favourite lyric: “Tunnel vision when I face subliminal crash”

I wanted to stay
5/5⭑

This song really stuck with me after the first time I heard it, there’s something about it that just hits the spot, in every which way a song can. There’s a really intense feeling of heartache, longing and just utter despair. Again, the call and response in this song is done so beautifully. I really enjoy the drum beat in the back and how it just perfectly paces this song. Calum’s voice is so soft and gentle it just makes me feel safe, I could live in this song. Which feels somewhat ironic because of how heart wrenching the song is, but there is something so comforting about this song, and how versatile it can be. We know what it means to Calum, but it can very easily be interpreted in many different ways.

Favourite lyric: “The night keeps swallowing another day, I love my baby but I’m fading away”

Sunsetter
4/5⭑

On my first listen through this album, ‘Sunsetter’ was my favourite song. I love how romantic this song feels, he has this wonderful way of making everything seem so peaceful, so calm, like watching the tide go out to sea at sunset (unintentional word choice given the song I’m talking about). The way this song crescendos into this whispered but loud, intense, almost crisis-like feeling moment, right before breaking back into the main chorus is just stunning. This song builds in such a cliche way, it’s paced how you’d expect a song to be paced, but the way it’s done is phenomenal. The way it builds is done in so many songs over the years, but there’s something so timeless and classic about the build up. Every time I hear it I feel like I’m having an out of body experience, like my soul is being taken to the stars.

Favourite lyric: “Bending backwards again, giving into the mess, and it all just falls apart”

All My Affection
5/5⭑

First time I listened to this album, I cried… a lot. I couldn’t figure out why at the time, but now that I’ve sat with it, it captures this feeling of loss and pain in such a unique way. I’ve had my heartbroken before, but there’s always something so raw and real -almost comforting, about losing everything (or having it all taken from you) but knowing you still have love to give, despite it all. If I could rate this higher than 5/5, I absolutely would. Calum has managed to capture this feeling of emptiness and the way he’s embodied moments in this song is so interesting, I have never experienced songwriting quite like this and what it has to offer, and how it forces the listener to just reflect and face the feelings. Referring to the mind as drywall is wild, it just makes everything sound so empty and painfully quiet.

Favourite lyric: “Is there a path, that’s golder than golden?”

Endless Ways
3/5⭑

Perhaps one of the most upbeat sounding songs on the album? I don’t have too many thoughts on this song, it falls a bit short for me, but for no real reason other than it just doesn’t resonate. I enjoy how it sounds, I think the change of pace and the more upbeat tempo of it makes it really fun and enjoyable. I like the pre-chorus moment where he sings “you remind me someone I know, too familiar, been here before”, it’s always fun when a song strips everything back for a second before picking back up, creating a moment of tension.

Favourite lyric: “Hit me like a twist in a long lost movie scene”

Streetwise
4/5⭑

Calum’s little ad-libs in this song, where he carries the “o” sounds at the end of words is so satisfying. The chorus is so catchy, this song just feels good, it’s practically impossible not to move to, either a full-body dance or a little foot tap, this is the definition of good vibes. Whilst it’s fun and upbeat, there is still an element of maturity and introspectiveness that can only truly be felt by experiencing the ups and downs of life, the chaos and the order – as would be implied by the album. The song feels like finding balance in life, between that young, playful spark and emotional resilience and how we can marry the two.

Favourite lyric: “Body suspended, we’re chasing moonlight and cars”

Dark Circles
4/5⭑

There’s a confessional feeling to this song, we know it’s like a love letter to his band, but I feel like this song can be portrayed as “what would be life be without them?” as well as “this is how life feels with them”, touring, long studio sessions, writing, radio sessions, interviews, photoshoots – it all must be exhausting but exhilarating. Whilst it is likely metaphorical, there is probably some reality to the dark circles under his eyes. The uncertainty of if the band never formed and where his life might have ended up, compared to the vulnerability of the band forming and having the time of your life but always being seen.

Favourite lyric: “I wish time was nothin’, what a shame we’re gettin’ older”

Three of swords
4.5/5⭑

If reflection was defined by a song, it would be this. I think this is such a perfect closing track, it feels like an emotional release, an exhale, it offers not only reflection on the album, but an insight to Calum’s life and how he’s grown. In tarot, the three of swords card usually signifies sorrow, loss, emotional pain, and calls to grief and loss. However, like all tarot cards, it just means that there’s room for the opposite, emotional growth, transformation, love, open doors etc. and I feel like this song manages to capture all those deep meanings very well. It feels like not just sitting and dwelling on emotions, but picking them apart, examining them – which allows for moving forward. ‘Three Of Swords’ ties the album together perfectly, with not only a personal message, but something that is so universally human, something everyone will inevitably feel at some point in their life.

Favourite lyric: “Drifted into a mile high of in-betweens, letting the senses fail on overload”

The whole album to me reminds me of Djo’s Twenty Twenty album a little bit – like a tiny bit, just in the way the music is louder than the vocals and some of the vocals almost seem echoed or whispered – I’ve only ever heard that before so purposefully in Djo’s debut album.
Calum sounds very different here than he does in any 5SOS project, and I think that’s so important. To be able to hear his versatility, and hear how he can sound depending on the emotions he’s feeling, or the drive and intent behind the songs. It’s overall an album I’d listen to, to calm myself. It’s not too lively or too emotional (besides the odd tear shed here and there).

I unboxed his album on my TikTok – which can be found here (CD) & here (Vinyl).

(all photos within this blog post are my own, please do not use without permission or credit)