Calum Hood is best known as the bassist of 5 Seconds of Summer, the Australian boyband who broke into mainstream popularity after being invited on tour with One Direction in 2013. As he gears up for the release of his debut solo album ORDER chaos ORDER, Hood has been making various appearances at signings and acoustic shows. As queues of fans lined up at Manchester’s HMV for a chance to meet their favourite boyband star, he spoke about launching a solo career and his plans for the future, as well as the influences and themes that can be found within his album.
Hood is the final member of 5 Seconds of Summer to launch a solo career, and he describes the experience as “super different” to being in the band. “I missed the songwriting room for sure. They’re so good at crafting their art, but I guess that’s the main reason to be doing it by myself, to hone in on those skills for me and to better myself as a musician and a songwriter, so I can go back and really understand myself as an artist”. As a solo work, ORDER chaos ORDER is intimate at its heart, both in feel and sound. Some songs are confessional, some sound cathartic, and all bring an honest picture of Hood’s life, as reflected by the album’s title. “I’d let all the things that I kind of intrinsically wanted to talk about just come to the surface, and they manifested themselves into those types of songs which were a little more intimate. But that’s also the music that I really enjoy, and I think that’s why that kind of singer-songwriter feeling is naturally what I come up with”.
Hood cites The Radio Department, Phoenix and Elliott Smith as inspiration for his upcoming record. “I was listening to a lot of European and UK bands, they came into play especially with the ballads”. The record’s name encapsulates its two themes, which have previously been explored by his influences. “Chaos and order were the main two themes I was picking up on my life in general. And throughout the process of making it, I felt both come in and out of play and they were both positive and negative for me at times, like when things were a little too stale or orderly, or it became like I felt like things were losing momentum. So that’s when more of the chaotic elements came into play”.
The closing track of ORDER chaos ORDER is ‘Three of Swords’, a title Hood describes as “quite interesting”. “It sounds pretty sad, but in the world of tarot it means feeling betrayal or pain inflicted by someone else. And I think as well, that someone else can also refer to the self. So it’s like a reflection of my younger self experiencing things, and me as an older man being able to put those things and feelings to rest and kind of open another door”. As a result, the title in itself encapsulates the order and chaos that surrounded Hood’s life at the time he wrote the album, and is therefore intrinsic within its tracks.
Hood notes ‘Streetwise’ as his own favourite song from the album, “just because I think it’s kind of in its own lane a little bit, and the energy feels really good at the moment”. The song provides a highlight towards the end of ORDER chaos ORDER, and sounds ready for a stage, inviting the screams of thousands of fans. When discussing his plans to tour the album, Hood emphasises his plan to keep to “stripped-back shows at the moment. I’m trying to wait until I’ve got enough music to play for at least an hour. So hopefully after the next one, I’ll be able to put on a prominent show”. Whenever that moment arises, it’ll certainly be something to look forward to. For now, ORDER chaos ORDER arrives on the 13th of June, and is shaping up to be a formative era for the boyband star.
