Album/EP

RedHook – Mutation (Album Review)

Nov 22, 2024

7 min read

RedHook – Mutation
Released: November 22, 2024

Lineup:

Emmy Mack // Vocals
Craig Wilkinson // Lead Guitar and Programming
Alex Powys // Drums
Ned Jankovic // Bass
Laptap // Programming

Online
Facebook
Instagram

In many ways, Mutation is an aptly titled piece for RedHook. How better to describe a band with a sound derived from every space of the scene, using relentless creativity to fuse pop with metal, seriousness with the sexy, and of course, break the stereotype through an enduring outspokenness. Over their gruelling few years of bustling creativity, 2024 has seen RedHook mutate into a killer, intimidating, final form- and one that packs a deadly and contagious punch. With singles we have been spinning for months already, and hidden gems that solidify the weighty 11-track run, Mutation is the Sydney four-piece’s radiant warning to all who surround them.

The album starts in an enigmatic form through ‘Pyromaniac’, an introduction to the slimy and distant world in which the album carries itself within. Emmy Mack takes upon the role of a strange and inquisitive frontwoman, tracing your ear and presenting as cautious and curious. It is the first of many times that her theatrical persona bears as the driving vessel of the band’s storytelling. With instrumentals that are at times reminiscent of old hits like ‘Dead Walk’, the song carries a truly creepy undertone. However, this does not take away from the passionate chorus that follows a story of self-destruction and reflection, bearing Mack’s soul in-between moments of sublime storytelling.

This is a theme that transcends the album, particularly with the next track, ‘Breaking Up With’. One of RedHook’s many drawing factors is their interchangeable abilities that see them traverse through emotions, but transition in a manner that does not discount the palpable vulnerability, nor take away the fun and exciting listenability. ‘Breaking Up With’ is an instant earworm, marking the return of everyone’s favourite brass baddies ‘RedHorn’ to the forefront. With one of the catechist choruses upon Mutation, and a stellar music video with wrestling and stunt doubles, this track is in high contention for one of the best singles of the year. Despite its spunky outward persona, the track is quite a retrospective degradation of one’s past life, actions, movements, and consequences. In yet another sax-filled climax, ‘Breaking Up With’ takes a powerful stance of self-reclamation and empowerment to become someone who is once again at the helm of your own life, choices, and decisions; and that is a moral to be heard loud and clear.

If there is one element RedHook really turned up the heat on in Mutation, it is the number of stellar collaborations featured on the album. While a creative mastermind in their own right, the three joint tracks on this album prove that RedHook can infect anyone with their quirk, moulding them to become just as strange and unusual. This was something I found myself particularly loving in ‘HEXXX’ featuring Vana. Dark and moody, the song is encased in a more electronic, trap beat, conjuring Emmy’s most versatile performance yet. Starting off with a slight rap, and descending into hellish screams, the track presents like a flickering haunting house, with each light illuminating a crazed, hungry, and malevolent spirit. This is only hyperbolised when Vana’s verse rolls in, supported by maniacal laughs and crazy electronic fuzz in the background. In an intoxicating mix of electronica and metal, the most chaotically mesmerizing depiction of entrancement takes place, and in a girls to the forefront moment.

Shifting pace with ‘Dr. Frankenstein’, RedHook employs the help of Welsh royalty, Holding Absence. In a softer environment, it is lovely to see Emmy’s vocals in a moment of clarity, oozing with depth and duality. This chorus is one of her most powerful. There too is such an energy Lucas Woodland brings to a track- that of which usually revolves around feelings of sincerity and heart wrenching-ness, with this track being no exception. ‘Dr. Frankenstein’ is a somber yet loud display of agonizing reexamination, and deciding what role you played in the fate that overcame you. There was perhaps no better suit for this single, and it is a song that yearns to be heard through each painful tug in the shared vocals.

With little recovery time, we are thrown straight back into the flashing lights and electronic kaleidoscope of ‘Bomb.com’. Often, RedHook appears at their best when you KNOW they are having fun, and this is very much one of those songs. There is an incredibly powerful motion that shakes the universe when Emmy’s sassy yet eloquent lyricism combines with the shared instrumental talents of Ned, Craig, and Alex, creating a soundscape that is so heavily layered, yet perfectly curated in its jarringness. Their formulation is captivating and consuming, with no room for distraction and an insatiable ability to hook you in. With a cheeky line shout-out to fellow Aussie faves, Stand Atlantic, there are just so many things to love about ‘Bomb.com’.

Beyond the fun facade of Mutation, the album is an inspirational and monumental release in terms of empowerment and, in particular, Emmy Mack’s desire to infiltrate the metal scene with the unfairly labelled ‘uncomfortableness’ of womanhood. The pioneers of this movement find themselves situated within the middle of the album in the form of ‘Hot Tub’ and ‘Cannibal’ featuring Lochie Keogh of Alpha Wolf. There is innuendo, there is cheekiness, but there is also an exhausting reality that is uncovered- and one that is so often pushed to the side. That being the silencing of women’s discussions of sex and self within the metal, and respective scenes. Through a dazzling radiance and uninterrupted confidence, Mack plows through these expectations and sends shock waves through the system. There is also a beautiful dichotomy between these two songs; one being playful and provocative, and the other, lustful and predatory. There is a conversation at play that even when these topics are spoken about, a woman will not be tied down to one representation of sex, femininity, and human desire. She is a multifaceted and untameable entity whose pleas and needs don’t just need an outlet to be shared, but through these two noteworthy tracks, will be heard.

I think there is much to say about Emmy’s position as both a frontwoman, and frontrunner in the scene, to come out of these tracks.

‘Hurt Like Hell’ presents a disjointed beat that almost makes your limbs move in a zombie-like, jolty state. There is something about its pacing and rhythm in the verses that seems so reminiscent of something 2000s adjacent, but in a warm and familiar way. Mutation has been a collection of some of RedHook’s most memorable and intriguing choruses to date, with this track being one of the leaders in the race. So too, there is much to say about the bands’ worldbuilding through the placement of sounds, effects, and auditory moments that conjure a deeper environment than just your solid guitar and drums. It has created a backbone of imagery throughout this album that very much resembles the cover; it’s industrial, it’s gooey, it’s a biohazard in the best of ways.

Following is ‘Party Zombie’- an anthem of beautiful vulnerability, presented by Emmy’s most delicate, fragile, but powerful vocal performance yet. In another stunning feat of clean vocals, this track takes the cake. With stunning notes taken to soaring heights, it almost seems like a new realm of her ability is unlocked in this track, and it is so gorgeous to witness. Supported with capturing guitar, ‘Party Zombie’ poses as the ballad for Mutation, and carries itself with an esteemed sense of being; it almost knows how high it soars. It is truly something new for the band.

Who doesn’t love a sequel? Time and again they have proven to be fan favoruites, and ‘Scream 2’ has already proven that is the same case for the Sydney sweethearts. Following in the predecessors of its spooky sisters ‘Cure 4 Psycho’ and ‘Low Budget Horror’, it’s not the first time RedHook has talked about horror- but this time, it’s a little more hard-hitting. In a complete tsunami of feeling, fleeting sound, and high-pitched screams, the band recalls the trauma of surviving a narcissistic abuser and recovering from the damage they inflicted during their unwelcome stay. ‘Scream 2’ is yet another occasion where RedHook’s discography becomes more than a collection of songs, but an open diary of sorts. The band has an incredibly strong fan base, with a connection integral to how the band presents itself. It seems that they have almost taken the fans under their wing, documenting their own stories and producing audible guides for them to take outward, and that is a heartwarming thing. There is such a community that radiates from tracks like this, and from RedHook themselves.

Closing the album is the previously released single, ‘Tourist’. This is a track I will never be able to hide my love for. It is simply nothing short of being a perfect song. With her heart on her sleeve, Mack delves into the themes of love bombing and resurfacing from the pain and damage that it inflicts on oneself. Raw and open, the verses hold the feeling of a guiding hand, before opening into a powerful, and extremely catchy, chorus. There is something so intoxicating about this song, and it perhaps does trace back to the boundaryless connection that branches from the speaker. ‘Tourist’ encapsulates the band’s ability to create with purpose, and sees it fitting to end on such a remarkable note. So too, the more surface-level “hope you had a nice trip” is a fun farewell to the pandemonium endured throughout the 10 tracks that came before, and boy, is it a good trip!

Mutation has seen RedHook confidently evolve into their most hybrid, powerful, and unapologetically authentic sleeves yet. While the juvenile and fun moments of the album are something to hook you in, what really keeps you around are the important conversations had throughout the entire 11 tracks. Through an open letter-like approach, no topic remains untouched- femininity, abuse, recovery, and self-expression. Mutation, oddly enough, almost sees RedHook become the cool parents of the scene, sharing life lessons through their jolty and eccentric sound. And it is a sound that is mutating and infecting the scene, because who doesn’t want to be as unique as RedHook?