31/07/2025

LYFE THURSDAY | JULY 31, 2025

26

ALBUM REVIEW

5SOS’s Michael Clifford drops debut solo album SINGER-SONGWRITER Michael Clifford of 5SOS (5 Seconds of Summer) has unveiled his debut solo album Sidequest via Hopeless Records. The new album, produced by JT Daly (Benson Boone, PVRIS), follows his previously released singles Kill Me for Always (featuring Porter Robinson), Cool and Give Me a Break! (featuring Waterparks), which all appear on the album. The new album sees Clifford delve into his current reality of moving across the country and becoming a father. While his home life is incredibly adult, his music allows him to continue to be youthful. On Sidequest , those worlds make for an interesting tension through clear-eyed reckoning. Happy-sounding songs deal with less-than-favourable subjects – fatherhood yields expansive sonic detours. The album is deeply personal and introspective, allowing fans to see a more vulnerable side of him. “I am so excited that my album Sidequest is officially out! I have got so much gratitude for everybody who helped bring this thing into existence. I love everybody who has listened to this music so much and I hope you love it – and it can become the soundtrack to some moment of your life like it has become mine,” Clifford shared. Alongside the album release, Clifford unveiled the official music video for his track Enough – a raw, fast-paced visual that mirrors the song’s emotional urgency. Directed by JorideDotCom (Sophie Powers, Lil Tecca & Don Toliver), the video came together in just a week. Clifford shared: “I leaked a bit of my song Enough and the reception was beyond what I could imagine. We quickly scrambled to find someone to pull together a music video and the absolute wizard JordieDotCom came through with a week’s notice and a video I am so proud of”. Clifford is an Australian singer and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of the multi-platinum pop-rock band 5SOS – the only Australian band in history to have its first three full-length studio albums enter the Billboard 200 at number one, with over 18 million albums sold. Having risen to fame in the early 2010s, Clifford became known for his guitar skills, ever-changing hair colours and his charismatic stage presence. As a key songwriter and producer for the band, he helped shape their evolving sound across multiple chart-topping albums. Now stepping into his solo career, Clifford is set to showcase his individual artistry with his debut album.

Tyler’s work ethic has seen him release four albums in the span of five years. – PIC FROM INSTAGRAM @FELICIATHEGOAT Tyler ventures into disco o Leaning into pop, R&B, artiste’s new album represents departure from previous projects F OR his ninth studio album, Tyler, the Creator wants his listeners to have fun and move. Laying down the rule of law in the opening track, Tyler commands previous works, the music here is clearly inspired by the early era of Pharrell Williams’s career, or more specifically, the rock and hip hop groups The Neptunes and N.E.R.D.’s body of work, that Williams was a part of. Mommanem without dropping the track’s beat, only for the song to turn out to be an interlude for the next track Stop Playing with Me . Ű BY MARK MATHEN VICTOR

The typical wordplay and off-kilter verses Tyler has been known to weave into his lyricism are also still present, scattered throughout the nearly 30-minute-long album’s 10 tracks, such as “I’m a sick pup, girl, I’m nasty / Eat the cream pie in the backseat” early in the album. Even if Don’t Tap the Glass does not reach the heights of Tyler’s best projects, such as 2019’s Igor , it might be the most fun album by the artiste, at least in the sense of compelling people to get up, turn off their brains and dance.

Don’t Tap the Glass leans heavily into the realm of pop and R&B, even if Tyler is rapping throughout it. Though it clearly lacks a concept, it still stands out from Tyler’s discography due to how energetic and disco it is, with songs such as Sugar on My Tongue , Ring Ring Ring and Don’t You Worry Baby . Despite the musical departure of sorts, Tyler still manages to throw some of his typical insanity into his ninth project, like how he edges listeners for the entire 75 seconds of

the album’s listeners: “No sitting still / Dance, bro,” setting the stage for the album’s brand of dance rap. A departure from his previous projects, Don’t Tap the Glass has Tyler rejigging his usual avant-garde, high concept-style of music into something more straightforward that blends disco, funk and electro. Even if the album has no discernible concept that reaches the eccentricities of his

Tame Impala returns with End of Summer TAME Impala (Kevin Parker) returns with the release of End of Summer , his first recording for new label Columbia Records. The song marks a new dawn for Tame Impala, as Parker once again expands the parameters of the project further into realms unexplored. Drawing from the deep, rich history of dance music, End of Summer recasts Tame Impala as a kind of future primitive rave act.

End Of Summer recasts Tame Impala as a kind of future primitive rave act.

The track harkens back to the acid house summer of 1989, to free parties of the mid-90s, to bush doofs in outback paddocks – to an imagined history, transmuted into something simultaneously present and eternal, still unmistakably Tame Impala. The thrill of spontaneous studio experimentation that has marked Tame Impala recordings since the beginning is more evident than ever, with Parker imprinting the track with an array of brain-bending, subtly manipulative sparkle. Parker has emerged as one of the most influential voices of the last decade. A singular artiste renowned for carving out a distinct sound all of his own, Parker crafts transcendent genre-bending sonic landscapes playing every instrument and acting as writer, producer, mixer and engineer on his projects. He has been nominated for four Grammy awards, with one

billion streams and the project has racked up numerous gold and platinum certifications globally. The artiste has headlined festivals and arenas around the world and released four full length albums – InnerSpeaker, Lonerism, Currents and his most recent album The Slow Rush . The Slow Rush landed at number one in multiple territories and was his highest charting album to date in the US and UK, with 14 top 10 chart positions around the world.

win for his collaboration with Justice on 2024’s Neverender . In his home country of Australia, he has racked up an impressive 13 Aria Awards and 27 nominations. He has won the Brit Award for Best International Band and scored nominations for two Billboard Music Awards and an American Music Award. Tame Impala has had numerous US Alternative Radio Top 10 songs including two number ones for Lost In Yesterday and Is It True . His The Less I Know the Better is part of the billionaires club with over two

Clifford is part of the Australian rock band 5SOS.