When it was first announced Luke Hemmings was releasing a solo album, my initial thoughts were ‘good for him’. It had become abundantly clear with 5 Seconds of Summer’s (5SOS) 2020 release CALM – which featured Hemmings on lead vocals, as opposed to one of three vocalists, as per the previous albums – that a potential solo career was on the cards for the young Australian. 

Now, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist joins the long list of members-of-boy-bands-past-turned-solo-artists with his debut album, When Facing the Things We Turn Away From, released August 13. 

It features 12 tracks, including three singles Motion, Starting Line and Place In Me, which are sure to be the first of many in a long-lasting career for the Sydney-born 25-year-old. 

If you’re expecting the catchy hooks, earworm melodies and heavy bass riffs 5 Seconds of Summer is known for, you’re listening to this album with the wrong mindset and are likely to be disappointed. 

Instead, you should think of this body of work as Hemmings’ love-letter to his younger self. The title really says it all; the album is about confronting, or ‘facing’, the topics and issues we typically turn away from or choose not to see.

With a Pink Floyd meets George Harrison meets Bon Iver vibe, this deeply personal almost-diary-like album covers everything from youth to the struggles of being in the music industry, and explores where Hemmings finds himself today. The emotional keys and acoustic sounds, together with the album’s sense of falling into a blue sea of emotion, create an all-engrossing pensive energy.

With the cancellation of the band’s 2020 tour due to COVID-19, the young artist utilised writing this album as a means of attaining solace while battling his inner demons. 

In his Spotify biography, Hemmings said the album deals with the consequent madness of growing up in the industry, with some of the tracks written from the perspective of his younger self. 

“The last 10 years of my life have been a blur and I have had to figure out how to fill a lot of gaps for myself in a positive way,” he wrote. 

“It’s like you’re forgetting so many pieces of your life – not from vices or anything – but from the sheer volume.”

This idea of ‘blur’ certainly holds true in the lyrics of the album's opening track Starting Line. 

The song features lines such as “in and out of focus, moments that I keep/Something for the pain and something so I sleep/...I wake up every morning with the years ticking by/I'm missing all these memories...” and “tell me, am I broken? I can never leave/Biting on my tongue and checking if it bleeds”. It is abundantly clear that life in the spotlight was not all it was made out to be for the then 17-year old. 

This open confrontation with internal struggles and burnout comes as no surprise, with 5SOS often bringing the issue of mental health to the forefront of their conversations since their formation in 2011. 

The themes in Starting Line can be noted throughout the album, be it through lyrics, lamenting electric guitar riffs, folk-like sounds or wailing vocal echos. In particular, Place in Me is a melancholic plea in the form of a voicemail which is likely an allusion to the realities of communication on the road. 

The album’s sound is not entirely dissimilar to Harry Styles’ enthralling debut album Harry Styles, with elements reminiscent of tracks such as From the Dining Room Table and Ever Since New York. When Facing Things We Turn Away From is exactly what you need when you’re in your feelings or needing a mellow, emotion-filled soundtrack to get you by. 

However, it isn’t all slow or acoustic from Hemmings.

Highlight tracks such as Motion and Saigon serve as a pace-breaker for the album. With their upbeat and catchy melodies, they show off Hemmings’ strong and renown falsetto while also acting as two of the most radio-worthy of the 12 tracks. 

Other beautiful and noteworthy titles include Bloodline, Comedown, Baby Blue and Slip Away, which are raw, revealing and honest tracks worthy of any playlist. Every listen comes with another easter egg to appreciate. 

If you enjoy mature acoustic melodies full of emotion and torment, laced with a 70s sound, then this album is for you. When Facing the Things We Turn Away From is sure to be the ‘starting line’ of a promising career for Hemmings and is likely to capture the hearts and minds of more than just the 5 Seconds of Summer generation.