Aussie superstar Luke Hemmings, the enigmatic lead vocalist of 5 Seconds Of Summer, has issued the lead debut single, “Shakes,” from his forthcoming solo EP, boy. Hemmings’ second full collection, following 2021’s When Facing The Things We Turn Away From, will arrive on April 26 via Arista Records. You can preorder and pre-save it here.
Produced by Hemmings’ longtime collaborator Sammy Witte (known for their work with Maggie Rogers, Harry Styles, and Freya Ridings), “Shakes” is a dreamy sequence. Injected with a double dose of melancholy, it’s perfect for a stroll in the rain with gray skies overhead. Highlighted by a gentle guitar serving as a beautiful backdrop for Hemmings’ voice as he glides across the chorus: “Honey, I just wanna be yours, wanna be yours/Inside your dreams tonight.” Oozing with a sense of existentialism, “Shakes” acts as the perfect introduction to Hemmings’ forthcoming release.
Speaking on behalf of the project’s leading debut single, Hemmings shares, “‘Shakes’ was written on a dreary NYC evening in between long periods of being on the road. This made it come naturally to write from a melancholy place and feeling of yearning to be back home and feeling lonely and emotionally depleted. There is a longing for love and self-acceptance in the lyrics, and I hope it to be a song and feeling that anyone listening can find themselves in and attach their own story.”
As he was writing for his eagerly-awaited sophomore solo release, Witte and Hemmings set out to capture what they referred to as “the ache.”
“It’s difficult to get across in words,” Hemmings explains. “I just know there’s a feeling that I get; there’s an ache. That seems to be the feeling I come back to.”
UPDATE:
Luke Hemmings has issued a dreamy, dreary video for his latest solo single, “Shakes.” Check it out below.
