5SOS frontman Luke Hemmings debuts at No.1 on ARIA charts with personal solo record

Luke Hemmings’ songwriting challenge when 5SOS had to shelve their world tour has resulted in a No.1 debut solo record.

Luke Hemmings has added another No.1 to his collection of four with 5 Seconds of Summer, chart-topping with his debut solo record.

His made-in-iso album When Facing The Things We Turn Away From claimed the summit of the ARIA charts on debut, with more than 20 million global song and video streams in a week.

Hemmings was suitably grateful to his legion of fans – another 20 million plus of them on social media platforms – for streaming the proverbial out of his solo tunes.

“Wow. Debuting at #1 on the ARIA charts on my first solo release means more than I could ever express,” he said in a statement.

“Thank you so much to the fans for supporting When Facing The Things We Turn Away From, downloading, streaming, and buying it.

“Thank you to my friends, family, and to my entire team for making this possible and being patient while I changed my mind a million times. Much love to you all. xx Luke.”

Thanks! Luke Hemmings is pretty stoked his debut solo record smashed straight into No.1. Picture: Supplied

The singer said last week he still isn’t sure if the mental health struggles he shares on his debut solo record were precipitated by the pop fame monster.

But after 10 years touring the world and recording with 5 Seconds of Summer, he decided to wrestle with those demons in the songs for When Facing The Things We Turn Away From album.

Songs like Diamonds and its admission “Starve myself ‘til I’m skin and bones,

I’m so much older than I ever thought I would be” share how negative internal monologues plagued the 25-year-old songwriter and affected his health.

Luke Hemmings in the music room in his LA home where he wrote his solo works. Picture: Supplied

Hemmings said many of the songs he started writing in the music room of his Los Angeles home during lockdown look back at his 17-year-old self when 5SOS exploded worldwide.

His debut single Starting Line tries to fill in the gaps of memories lost in the vapour trail of the band’s warp-speed ascent to global pop stardom.

“You’re at such an awkward stage when you’re that age and it’s hard to navigate that when you’ve got a lot of eyes on you,” Hemmings said.

“And I’m trying to understand if all those (thoughts) were always there, were they brought on by this sort of journey that I’ve had or just exacerbated by it.

“I love being in the band, I love being that person and it’s such a beautiful and ridiculous adventure but that has an affect mentally, good and bad, just from being the age we were.”

5SOS are back in the studio together again with Hemmings saying they’re closer mates than ever. Picture: Justin Lloyd

His record follows drummer Ashton Irwin sharing similar mental health challenges on his quarantine solo album Superbloom released last October, which addressed alcoholism, toxic masculinity and also body dysmorphia on the single Skinny Skinny.

Hemmings credits his strong family bond as helping to get him through the tough times but the song Mum shows the tyranny of distance when the band was touring took its toll.

“Mum, I’m sorry I stopped calling, Don’t know what the hell I was caught in,’ he sings.

Hemmings said his mum Liz, who was often on the road with 5SOS in their early years, was naturally emotional when he shared the track with her.

“Yeah, I sent it to her and … she cried,” Hemmings said. “She’s good to send songs to because she’ll tell you if she really likes it or not.”

Just as Irwin explored his indie rock passions with his album, Hemmings unleashes a surprisingly different sound to 5SOS with his solo works, conjuring an epic, swirling and often orchestral musical concoction which mirrors his love of Pink Floyd, Bon Iver and Arcade Fire.

“When I was listening to that music – and a lot of new music too – being locked inside for such a long time, it made me determined to write songs which would evoke a tangible emotional response in people. I wanted drama,” he said.

The Australian musician also enlisted his songwriter fiance Sierra Deaton to co-write on new single Baby Blue and album track Bloodline.

Luke Hemmings proposed to Sierra Deaton earlier this year. Picture: Instagram

The release of When Facing The Things We Turn Away From album – whose singles have already generated more than 10 million Spotify streams – comes as his band enters a new era.

“Two of us have done solo albums and the band’s in the best place, as friends, that we’ve ever been, which I don’t imagine those two things usually coincide,” he said.

Hemmings, Irwin, Michael Clifford and Calum Hood have been posting photos of the quartet working on songs for the fifth 5SOS record after also signing to new international management and parting with their American record label as they released their fourth record CALM in March last year.

Hemmings went for drama with the soundtrack to his lyrical therapy. Picture: Supplied

With more than two million tickets and 10 million albums sold over the past decade – plus seven billion streams confirming their successful transition from boy band to career act – 5 Seconds of Summer remain a highly lucrative pop proposition.

Hemmings said the housekeeping of their business affairs was necessary because “there were some relationships that weren’t quite in line with the way we want to do things and the way that we want to be perceived by a lot of people.”

“We grew up a little. We want to be an important band to people for the right reasons. It’s always been a goal.”