5 Seconds of Summer’s Michael Clifford Drops New Single ‘Give Me a Break!’ Featuring Waterparks, Releases New Music Video Inspired by Death Note

Ben Madilynn May 29, 2025

Singer-songwriter Michael Clifford of 5 Seconds of Summer releases his new single, “give me a break! (featuring Waterparks)” via Hopeless Records. The new track, co-produced by Michael and JT Daly (Demi Lovato, Benson Boone, Alex Warren), follows his debut solo single “cool” released last month. The release coincides with the announcement that his solo debut album release, ‘SIDEQUEST’, will arrive on July 25. Pre-order here.

Of today’s release, Michael shared, “I’d been really wanting to create something unique with Awsten and Waterparks. Awsten became my person that I would vent to about different things in life and I think that’s the kind of the energy that this song has. It’s very authentic to us.”

Of the collaboration, Awsten Knight of Waterparks shared, “When Michael asked me to be involved with his album I was beyond flattered; I’ve been a fan of his for so long and hearing he was doing a solo album instantly got my brain spinning. Writing with him was fun because we pushed every line to the limit. It’s been really sick to watch him grow this album from the early stages and I can’t wait to see how much people love it.”

Michael Clifford – “Give Me A Break!” (Official Music Video)

Alongside the track, Michael also premiered the video for the new single. Directed by Luke Orlando, the comedic video pays homage to the anime “Death Note”. Fans watch as Michael and Awsten act out the writings of our protagonist’s fan fiction. Throughout her several rewrites, Michael acts out several ways of being murdered by Awsten.

On creating the video, Michael added, “I wanted to make sure that we glorified fan fiction and how beautiful it is that people write these incredible farfetched stories about their favorite artists and publish them for the world to see. It’s a celebration of the dedication of the people who love us and how unorthodox their support can be sometimes.”‘SIDEQUEST’ Tracklisting
1. kill me for always (feat. porter robinson)
2. cool
3. give me a break! (feat. waterparks)
4. remember when
5. enough
6. fashion
7. thirsty
8. nosebleed
9. if i had a choice (feat. ryan hall)
10. eclipse