When Facing the Things We Turn Away From

“The process for this album genuinely happened by accident,” Luke Hemmings says about his first album as a solo artist. “When the world shut down last year, I had a lot of time to reflect on my youth and the person I had been, who I’ve become and who I wanted to be. It just so happens that the best way for me to face those things and process my thoughts is by writing songs.” The Sydney-born, LA-based singer-songwriter may only be 25, but he’s already been in the game for a decade, having founded 5 Seconds of Summer in 2011. The pop-rock group, which is fronted by Hemmings, shot to global fame in the years that followed—and with that came years of constant touring and momentum that didn’t really let up at all until the pandemic hit. It marked the first time in years that Hemmings was able to stay in one place for an extended period of time, and it allowed him to focus on himself, his past and his solo career. “I’m in a constant pursuit of bettering myself and always trying to become a better artist, songwriter, musician and human,” he says. “A huge goal was to have the sonics of the album reflect the feeling of the emotions that I was immersed in when writing.” Below, Hemmings delves deep into the meaning and making of every track on When Facing the Things We Turn Away From. “Starting Line” “The lyric and sonic of ‘Starting Line’ are a reflection on 10 years of your life passing you by in what felt like forever, but also in the blink of an eye. It’s about forgetting pieces of your life—not from vices, but from sheer volume and speed. I’ve had to figure out how to fill all the gaps for myself in a positive way. I love the way this song builds and the emotion it evokes. It is a perfect first step to the rest of the album.” “Saigon” “This song was inspired by a trip to Vietnam that I took with my fiancée and both of our mothers. This entire album was written in the moments of stillness that quarantine forced, and I spent those months facing the things I turned away fr