5 Seconds of Summer has returned with “Teeth,” out today (Aug. 21). The single sees the group venturing even further into the industrial sounds and themes the band began to explore with previous release “Easier,” both off of their forthcoming album.
Released via Interscope Records, the track comes with a dark music video to match from the mind of Thibaut Duverneix, who also directed Tierra Whack’s visual album Whack World. The band is subjected to an experiment-gone-wrong resulting in each member’s personal hellscape, signified with changing colors and different environments reminiscent of art installations.
Featuring guitar work from Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, “Teeth” finds 5SOS channeling an Aussie kindred spirit of the past: AC/DC.
“With ‘Teeth,’ I knew it was something that we hadn’t discovered yet within the band,” bassist Calum Hood says in a new interview with Billboard’s Pop Shop Podcast (the band’s full episode will air in the coming weeks). “It reminds me of like — as weird as it sounds — AC/DC in terms of the pulse and energy. It’s really a special thing for me because it means that we’re almost connecting with the roots of the band in a modernistic way.”
The song itself details a relationship tug-of-war, its piercing chorus announcing “You talk so pretty but your heart’s got teeth” against a constant chug of distorted guitar led by Morello.
Though the band recognizes that they are evolving in a way that may seem drastic to some, drummer Ashton Irwin finds this growth to be part of the artistic process.
“With darker tones, I think comes a seriousness that is difficult for us to translate sometimes because of where our band came from,” Irwin says. “But also, it’s up to us to remain passionate and focused on being inspired by music still and discovering music.”
Watch the full video for “Teeth” below.
