5 Seconds of Summer bassist Calum Hood steps into the spotlight alone on his solo debut “Don’t Forget You Love Me,” an enthralling introduction that finds him walking a tightrope between self-reflective (and at times self-destructive) despair and relieving reconciliation. The record will appear on his debut album Order Chaos Order, out June 13, which emerged from a kindred dichotomy.
“This album was made in a tumble dryer of knowing and not knowing. I started out with a vision — order — but quickly became overwhelmed by the process — chaos. Eventually, I learned to embrace both,
and that balance became the heart of the record,” Hood shared in a statement.
Embracing hard truths doesn’t come as easily for Hood on “Don’t Forget You Love Me,” but the effort he puts into doing so is evident in the grit of his emotional pleas across the single. “And I know that it’s hard to see/Every version of me/But it’s not the same as everything you ever thought/I ever could/But never would be,” he sings. “But I’ve tried enough to call you/and I’m scared that you’ll pick up/cause I know that I don’t want you to/cause baby I would have to own up/To everything oh everything I’ve done to you/and all I did to us.”
Hood has served as a primary songwriter in 5SOS since their earliest records, the Unplugged and Somewhere New EPs released in 2012. But until now, he hasn’t sought to break away from the band. The closest he came to a solo release was the one-off demo “Bad Dreams” that he posted and swiftly deleted on X (then Twitter) in the dead of the night back in 2013, presumed to be a scrapped 5SOS album cut.
Hood’s collaborators on the 10-track album include Day Wave’s Jackson Phillips, David Burris, and TMS (Lewis Capaldi, Niall Horan). Jack LaFrantz, who was a primary songwriter on Benson Boone’s Fireworks & Rollerblades, is a co-writer on “Don’t Forget You Love Me.”
Order Chaos Order, will check the final box on 5SOS solo projects. Earlier this month, guitarist Michael Clifford launched his debut solo album Sidequest with the pop punk-influenced single “Cool.” Drummer Ashton Irwin was the first to go solo in 2020 with Superbloom, which he followed up with Blood on the Drums in 2024. Frontman Luke Hemmings followed in 2021 with When Facing the Things We Turn Away From and in 2024 with Boy.
Hemmings — who has previously expressed that Hood was the first person in his personal life to inspire him as a songwriter — told Rolling Stone last year that each member being allowed to explore musical journeys on their own is key to keeping 5SOS alive. “I know solo projects can be scary for fans of bands, but for me it’s the way that the band can live on forever,” he said. “In my eyes, that’s the way I see it.”
It’s a type of catharsis. In a statement, Hood shared: “There are things I’ve never been able to sing about in the band — my upbringing, my family, the places life has taken me. This album is about laying those things to rest and allowing listeners to connect in their own way.”
Order Chaos Order Track List
“Don’t Forget You Love Me”
“Call Me When You Know Better”
“Sweetdreams”
“I Wanted To Stay”
“Sunsetter”
“All My Affection”
“Endless Ways”
“Streetwise”
“Dark Circles”
“Three Of Swords”
