“Red Desert” is the opening track of 5 Seconds of Summer’s 2020 album ‘CALM.’ This track is quite special as we find all 5SOS members singing in unison inspired by the legendary groups such as Eagles and Queen.
5SOS’s fourth studio album ‘CALM’ definitely goes against its title. Although the album title is an acronym of the band member’s names: Calum, Ashton, Luke, & Michael, this album produced some impressive hits globally. Singles such as “Easier,” “Teeth,” “No Shame,” and “Wildflower” really showcased the musical maturity of the group.
“Red Desert” teases have been aplenty among 5SOS members on social media. They once posted a picture of themselves in a desert. Ashton posted the lyrics “diving deeper” on his Instagram account. They also posted longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates of the actual Red Desert in Australia.
This song was first played live at the G’Day concert organized to raise funds to support Australian bushfires.
Listen to “Red Desert” by 5SOS
Luke Hemmings spoke about the song on Apple Music; “We did this cover of “Killer Queen” by Queen before we wrote this song. We’d sing a harmony all together and do it eight times, then the next harmony all together in the booth eight times, building these huge gang vocals like they would. I think that opened our eyes to what we could do vocally as a group. We wanted to show that we all sing, but we can do it in a way that’s different from when we were younger—more of an Eagles, Crosby Stills Nash way, those big rock harmonies.”
“Red Desert” Lyrics Meaning & Song Review
The song seems to be an ode to Australia, where 5SOS’s originated from. Instead of seeing ‘red’ as a colour of destruction and chaos it normally represents, this song portrays ‘red’ as the colour that can heal the ‘blues.’
This idea also connects with their music video for “Old Me” single, which starts off by showing a red desert landscape.
Hence, 5SOS sing that even they are far away from their home, everything they do is for their country. Make Australia proud!
Let us know what you think about this song in the comments below.
Check out the complete lyrics and further meaning breakdown on Genius.
I love the song “Red Desert”. It is one of my favourite’s on the album!