RedHook: The Mutation Of Self Acceptance
“Mutation felt like a very apt name for our second LP for a number of reasons,” REDHOOK vocalist Emmy Mack explains. “I love the connotations of growth, change, and evolution, which I feel is something that – in terms of our sound – is to just push the boundaries in terms of our sonic palette. But also, thematically and lyrically, in terms of my own personal journey and as a songwriter, I wrote this record at a time where I’d come through a lot of trauma, so I was starting to heal and I’m a lot braver in the lyrics that I’m writing about.”
She describes a lot of the songs on the album as ‘spiritual sequels’ to other songs. This is most obvious in the song Cannibal featuring ALPHA WOLF vocalist Lochie Keogh. The song is a sequel to Jabberwocky from REDHOOK‘s debut album Postcard From A Living Hell. Whilst Jabberwocky is a song about sexual assault, Cannibal is a loud, sex-positive song about claiming the power back. It also went viral online during the summer.
“I honestly thought fans would hate it,” Mack confesses. “It’s not what we normally do, and it’s unapologetically sexually empowering. But I was blown away by how positive the reaction was across the board. It was a scary one for me to release because it was about my journey to being able to feel empowered by sex again after that kind of trauma and I didn’t know if that would be too much for people. There’s all these weird things that went through my head because of the shame, but it was the most beautiful experience in the world that it was met with such a ‘Fuck Yeah’ from the heavy community.”
ALPHA WOLF aren’t the only musicians who feature on the album. New Zealand alternative metal singer VANA features on Hexxx and Dr.Frankenstein features Lucas Woodland from Welsh rock band HOLDING ABSENCE. “All of the artists who are featured on Mutation are all artists that we are massive fans of. Every one of the songs that have those features were written with the intention of having a feature, and our collaborators were all on the top of our lists for the songs. We’re so lucky that when we hit all of them up about the songs, they all got back to us saying that they wanted to be involved,” Mack explains. “That was very validating for us. I loved the songs already, but they are so much better with the magic that those three artists brought to them.”
Mutation also features the fantastic single Breaking Up With, which is a sequel to Bad Decisions, the band’s most popular song to date. “Breaking Up With is the song that marks the healing journey of breaking the cycle of self-hate and self-destruction, and choosing to forgive my past mistakes and to be kinder to myself. Although the lyrics are a bit cheesy because it uses the metaphor of ending a toxic relationship and starting afresh.”
Breaking Up With also features a fantastic saxophone solo by guitarist Craig Wilkinson, which sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it does. This is just one example of how sonically diverse REDHOOK are on Mutation. “The record as a whole has a lot of musical diversity and it shows how far we’re pushing our sound. We’re incorporating other elements outside of heavy music, and cross-pollinating those with our sound. There are some wacky ones on this album,” Mack laughs. She explains that Bomb.com is a nu-metal/post-hardcore track over rap vocals. However, there is one part of the song that is “extremely chaotic. Craig wanted the sound to amplify that chaos, and the reference that he made was R2-D2 screaming in the Star Wars movies. So we hunted down some samples that had that vibe and we chucked them in there and they worked so well. If you take a deep dive into the songs on this album, there are some influences that would surprise people.”
Mutation is an album all about self-healing and removing yourself from toxicity. Therefore, the album cover depicts this perfectly. It’s a bright green biohazard sign in the shape of a heart on a dark purple background. Mack explains the story of the process behind it. “The artwork was a nightmare to create. We were working back and forth with our designer and nothing was really fitting. We got into a bit of a situation where it just felt like it wasn’t working, and we had two week deadline to get the finalised artwork in. I was having a bit of a meltdown. The guy who created the artwork, Pat Fox, used our biohazard heart that we’ve been using since we released the song Tourist. He turned it around in a weekend and I cried when I saw it because it was so good and just so powerful. It was the biggest relief and as soon as I saw it, I just felt like it fit with the album.”
REDHOOK might have a toxic symbol on the front of their album cover, but their message is anything but. Whilst some people might call the lesson of leaving behind toxic people and situations cheesy, it’s one that we learn several times throughout our lifetime, especially after going through hardship. It takes a lot of strength to pull through toxicity because it can become addicting and normalised, especially if it is coming from within. But one of the bravest things that we can do is hold our hands up and acknowledge that part of us and try to move forward and make a better life for ourselves. Mutation by REDHOOK is proof that it is possible.
Mutation is out now via Adventure Cat Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS116 here:
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