After making us wait six years for their debut album Postcard From A Living Hell, Sydney experimental hard rock outfit RedHook is now on the cusp of delivering album number two just over 18 months later.
A sceptical person may wonder if this new album is possibly a by product of the modern musical climate where content is King, but anyone even remotely close to the RedHook camp would counter that by simply pointing to the fact that the creative shackles have been broken, and the juices are flowing!
Already Mutation has spawned a multitude of singles of varying musicality, suggesting RedHook have expanded their sonic palate even further on their sophomore album, which will be unleashed on the world on November 22.
Opener Pyromaniac eases to life courtesy of stifled electronics that soon flower beautifully into a welcome but unexpected track that sees vocalist Emmy Mack tapping into an almost vulnerable innocence amid swirling textures of malicious intent.
While not hip-hop vocals per se, they are at times spat with venom and surety that are offset by a more measured and heartfelt chorus that restores the status quo. There’s plenty going on elsewhere as well, with spattered electronics and samples simmering gently below the surface without fully breaking through. Which I’m guessing is meant to accentuate the angst and emotion that are the driving factors of this song.
Breaking Up With follows, a quirky dose of samples quickly ushering in a serving of saxophone that is as funky as fuck. This is a rock-drenched slab of sultry dynamics, shuffling along at an infectious pace that seems to put Emmy on edge as she boldly declares that she is breaking up with herself.
Ease up tiger, things aren’t that bad.
This track is a rollicking fun time, smothered in layers of sonic pleasantries that suggest RedHook’s tongues were firmly planted in their cheeks when they wrote it. Which is also when the band are at their mischievous best.
The album’s first collaboration is next, with a ditty titled Hexxx – with the emphasis on three x’s in Hexxx. I am told this tune features Vana, and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say she was invited for her vocal prowess, not to correct the band’s spelling.
More samples warm things up before Emmy joins proceedings with a swirling dissonance that matches the hypnotic soundscape of the song. The music turns into more of a shuffle as things take a turn into dangerous territory with spouts of aggressiveness matched dutifully by purposeful and militant drumming from Alex Powys.
The poor tubthumper has been mostly suppressed by an eclectic assortment of samples and electronics up until now, but it seems as though he has finally put his foot down figuratively and cast these sonic intruders to the side – if only momentarily.
Holding Absence appear on the next track Dr. Frankenstein as an electronically tampered with vocal intro pays homage to the good doctor before Emmy glides into the track with a measured opening salvo of tempered restraint that you just know isn’t going to last.
And she doesn’t disappoint, working herself into a ball of anger directed once more at the good doctor, who seems to have raised the ire of all and sundry. Male vocals provide a surprise look at things from a different perspective, and I’m guessing this is one of the members from Holding Absence because from memory I haven’t heard any of the RedHook gentlemen break into verse like this before.
Bomb.com explodes from the blocks next amid a tumultuous mixing of guitars and electronics that slowly build to a crescendo before Emmy fires a rapid-paced and authoritative showering of lyrics that is difficult to keep pace with.
The sonic heaviness seems to intensify at every opportunity, alternating between the machine gun spat vocals and a heavy bottom end from bass player Ned Jankovic and guitarist Craig Wilkinson that is sensationally brutal.
Now before you point out that both Ned and Craig are responsible for more than just bass and guitar I already know, but that fact I couldn’t successfully separate anything outside of these instruments when it comes to sonic structure means that as far as I am concerned that is their primary objective here, although I’m sure both of them would argue violently at this assessment.
This song is pure adrenaline-fueled anarchy from every angle, with even the electronic contributions providing a threatening sense of menace that enhances the carnage raging around it. Pick of the bunch so far.
For some reason, Eddie Murphy springs to mind as I read through the next track Hot Tub, but a dancing wave of electronics soon pushes him out of my mind as Hot Tub starts to steam things up. I am actually quickly starting to warm to the 80s-inspired robotics and enhancements, but don’t tell anyone because I will call bullshit straight up.
There is a playfulness to Emmy’s voice on this song that remains even when she starts to throw random fucks at some unseen adversary. A tasty guitar lick from Wilkinson acts as the perfect segue back into fuck you town as RedHook go all out retro finally without a production line of distractions to soften the blow.
Cannibal, featuring rapidly rising Aussie metallers Alpha Wolf, threatens to spice things up but instead begins with a deliberately measured intent that suggests maybe these particular cannibals are vegetarians.
But they soon regain their hunger – if only fleetingly – as Emmy purrs her lines with only sporadic moments of malevolence that allows for a smooth and seamless transition between light and shade that is led this time by vocals instead of instrumentalization. But just when you think she is maybe starting to find her inner Zen, Emmy explodes in a sudden burst of aggression that almost catches you by surprise.
All of a sudden the cannibal needs to feast and feast it shall as the Alpha Wolf boys come to the party in a snarling wave of unrestrained anger that still resonates as the next track Hurt Like Hell folds into line.
This track sees Emmy reclaim the sultry innocence that punctuates much of her work. Her ability to paint a sonic landscape just by altering her vocals or attitude is a feature of Mutation. In fact, the contributions from all four members is practically flawless, showing a maturity that shouldn’t manifest in just eighteen months.
Party Zombie sounds like an oxymoron before it even starts, with an eery electronic intro setting the tone for a restrained number that would be RedHook’s love song. If they wrote such things.
It seems the focus of this track is dancing, which would seemingly be difficult for a zombie, but obviously party zombies are more lively. Who would have thought?
This is perhaps the most pure track on Mutation, in the sense that it follows a steady trajectory throughout without veering off sporadically in any given direction. I’m not sure if they threw this in to prove that as a unit RedHook can follow rules and convention, but I’m not buying it.
Scream 2 arrives courtesy of some urgent electronics that are soon superseded by even more urgent drums and guitar that only intensify as the song progresses. Until the chorus arrives, which brings things back to a more sustainable level until even it gives up and allows RedHook to basically do whatever the fuck they want.
But when you do it so well, why would you want to interfere?
Tourist closes the curtain on Mutation and is a fitting finale that acts as both a farewell and a welcoming rite of passage. Welcoming in the respect that after successfully navigating album number two from RedHook those still standing are in for a hell of a future ride if the sonic elevation between Postcards from A Living Hell and Mutation continue as expected.
Mutation is the product of a band who are completely comfortable with and within themselves. It is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of a band who will – if the musical Gods have any respectability – mark their names amongst the best this country has to offer.
Nice work kids!
