Calum Hood: Where Order and Chaos Collide
Photographs by Sara Regan
Hair and Makeup by Nadine Muller
If you were a teenager in the 2010s, Calum Hood needs no introduction. As one-fourth of Aussie pop-rock band 5 Seconds of Summer, Hood sky-rocketed to fame when the band scored the opportunity to open for global superstars One Direction during their Take Me Home tour. With over 18 million albums sold, multi-city tours sold out and 5 albums under their belt as one of Australia’s most successful musical exports, Calum Hood is no stranger to the industry.
After over a decade in the band, Hood has spread his wings, embarking on his first-ever solo venture. His upcoming album ORDER chaos ORDER, is a deeply personal exploration of love, grief, addiction, family and fame. Hood does not seek to change the past, instead to observe and reflect on it.
Hood’s first release, Don’t Forget You Love Me is a nostalgic pop-rock track that feels like driving down the highway at night, windows down and broken-hearted. The lyrics ooze with agony and vulnerability, “‘Cause on that last night / Instead of looking for a fight / I should've looked you in the eyes / 'Cause what it really was was me begging”.
The track came about after a late-night conversation in which a partner said the words “don’t forget you love me”. It was unlike anything he’d heard before, “it just didn’t leave my brain. I just thought it was so devastating for someone to say that to you. I needed to put it somewhere because it was draining me”. Perhaps most reflective of his poignant lyricism, Hood went on to say that, “The lyrics and melodies felt like they fell from the sky”. The repetition of those five words makes for a devastating hook. A begging and pleading reminder to your partner that despite it all, you love one another, even if you can’t or shouldn’t be together.
Shortly after, Hood released his second single Call Me When You Know Better, a lyrically more ambiguous track, he explains “it kind of represents a well of insanity, you know when you think about something so much you start to just kind of spiral”. The tracks' artistic collision of digital and organic sound design creates a listening experience that is contradictory, chaotic and immersive, mirroring the noise one might experience in the mental spiral Hood illustrates. “It's really a play on the things I haven’t met certain standards of being, whether that’s being a friend or a lover or a brother or a son, and it plays into the several voices in my head that all have opinions, that all think they're right”.
The accompanying video to Call Me When You Know Better, is visually chaotic, mirroring the lyrics and sound design. Hood is seen running down a dark road, donning a loose-fitted button-up and tie. Paint, tennis balls and roses are thrown his way. “All these things are being thrown at you, from this relationship that you hold dearly, and it's that feeling of being smacked with reality and in more surreal ways too”, he explains. The clip plays in reverse, with quick cuts and disorienting flashing lights adding to the overall anarchy, or ‘chaos’.
There was no definitive moment for Hood to start this solo endeavour, instead, it was a culmination of timing and self-reflection that led him here. “I kind of had to just really believe in myself, there were a lot of moments where I thought this might be too big of a task, to put myself out on the line like that. This is why I'm here. I'm here to be an artist, I'm here to be a songwriter, I'm here to be in servitude to all those things. So I had no choice”. It’s this innate obligation to create and storytelling that compelled Hood to take on such an intimate project solo.
Hood worked with Jackson Phillips (aka DayWave) on the album, after reaching out to Phillips via Instagram. He sent off 12 tracks to Phillips to produce, only to have 11 of them scrapped. But after sitting down and writing together, Hood found a brand new way of writing, “He opened another door of possibility to finding something deeper, finding a deeper world into myself”. However, the 11 discarded songs still may see the light of day, “I think they're all really good time capsules into my life. And there's plenty of times where I stole lyrics from older songs and put them into new ones. You've already done the work in terms of writing the songs, and there's little bits of gold within each”.
After growing up with 5SOS, forming a brotherhood, and touring the world together, Hood says his bandmates were some of the last people to hear the album before the release, “I care about their insight and their opinions so much, I was really hesitant and really nervous to show them, because I respect their opinion the most. And I wanted to make sure that the music was in its final form. I wanted to come to them with the album as a whole.”
Their response?
“They were so sweet. They were so amazingly sweet and encouraging, to a point where I'm like, this is not normal for bands to be that supportive of each other. I feel so grateful to be in a group where everyone champions each other. I think I realised how rare and how beautiful that is and that's why we're still together after nearly 15 years, we allow each other to express ourselves creatively inside and outside the band.”
Now that the wheels are in motion, Calum relies on his bandmates to help him navigate the industry solo, “Now that the music is done, I'm constantly going to them asking stuff like “How did you feel when you released your first single? How are you feeling doing interviews by yourself?” And I'll get these really insightful notes from them.”
The album brought healing and a lot of self-reflection to Hood, “I think what I learned about myself in the process is that I can choose to be gentle with how I can look at myself, and especially with how I can look at myself in my younger years. It was therapeutic to be able to put these things down on paper so that I can allow myself to maybe let some things that were a little bit traumatic go and that, within itself, is me protecting a part of me. So I learned that I'm able to be a guardian to myself.”
Through ORDER chaos ORDER, Calum Hood exposes his innermost thoughts with unflinchingly raw intensity, encapsulating the heaviest of moments in one's life, be it grief, addiction or heartbreak. Hood bares it all to create a piece of work that does not shy away from the pain, instead holding your hand as you wade through it. Whether you are a long-time fan or a new listener, ORDER chaos ORDER provides a refuge for those seeking introspection, acceptance, or just some calm within the noise. Take a moment, press play, and let ORDER chaos ORDER meet you wherever you are.
Grab yourself a copy and learn more about the album here!
Photography: Sara Regan
Words: Eloise Beath
Hair and Makeup: Nadine Muller
Video: We’d Stare Too Creative Agency
Assistants: Cameron Grant and Charlotte Dirckze
Studio: Cool Studio