Album Review: "ORDER chaos ORDER" - Calum Hood
- Victoria Fitzgerald
- Jun 26
- 6 min read
In April of 2025, Australian singer-songwriter Calum Hood announced that he would be releasing his debut studio album with EMI Music Australia. He began by releasing three singles separately. These singles were “Don’t Forget You Love Me”, “Call Me When You Know Better”, and “Sunsetter”. These singles teased the subject matter and aural palette of the album, garnering praise and fostering excitement for the album that was released on June 13th, 2025. Upon release, the album debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Although Hood was the last of his bandmates from 5 Seconds of Summer to go solo, his album was more than worth the wait.
TRACKLIST
Don't Forget You Love Me
Call Me When You Know Better
Sweetdreams
I Wanted To Stay
Sunsetter
All My Affection
Endless Ways
Streetwise
Dark circles
Three of Swords
Calum Thomas Hood was born on January 25th, 1996 in Sydney, Australia. Throughout his childhood, he took an interest in sports. He was particularly good at soccer, and showed great promise as a player. However, his heart was set on music. In the year of 2011, Hood began posting youtube song covers with his school friends Micheal Clifford and Luke Hemmings. Eventually they were joined by Austin Irwin, and began the band 5 Seconds of Summer which has amassed millions of album and ticket sales as well as digital streams. Hood has had a history of songwriting, and announced his solo album “ORDER chaos ORDER” in April of 2025.
Don't Forget You Love Me
Hood’s album begins with the track “Don’t Forget You Love Me”, an upbeat song that contrasts with its dark subject matter. It begins with a guitar ostinato and a drum beat signals the entrance of the vocals. This moving track describes the feeling of being lost throughout heartbreak, emphasizing the grieving process that accompanies the loss of a relationship. The repetitive melody and instrumental during the verses create a feeling of a never-ending tunnel, suggesting the endless feeling of heartbreak. The chorus marks the first change in melody, and it sounds like a desperate echo of begging someone not to forget you, and the vocals become progressively more expressive and powerful to accompany this change.
Call Me When You Know Better
“Call Me When You Know Better” has an electronic feeling that reminds me of retro 8-bit video games. The chorus enters with guitars that combine an acoustic element with the electronic synths that provide a uniquely summery feel. This song is about feeling guilt around the end of the relationship. Unfortunately, sometimes love is not enough, and you cannot give someone what they need. You’re left with no choice but to let them go. Harmonies in the verses cook up an echoey effect on the vocals, leaving listeners with a sense of wistfulness.
Sweetdreams
“Sweetdreams” begins with echoey vocals atop a guitar melody and light drum beat. The vocals become clearer as they lead into the verse. This track is about past memories. Hood sings about finding comfort and respite in times past, complemented by echoey, far away vocals that create the feeling of a dreamlike trance. As the name suggests, every dream must come to an end. No matter how much one wishes to stay in the comfort of memories, everyone has to wake up at some point. This devastating reality is teased by the dark imagery of a car crash, hinting that the dreaminess is merely a coverup for a brutal reality.
I Wanted To Stay
“I Wanted To Stay” juxtaposes the dreaminess of the previous track with a darker introduction. A heavy bass with intense vocalizations mark a stark shift in mood. A drum beat signals the introduction of the verse. This is another song about being forced to leave someone you love due to your inability to properly care for them. Mental health issues are like any other illness- they impact every facet of your existence, including interpersonal relationships. When your primary focus is keeping yourself above water, it gets difficult to honor your relationships. The overpowering instrumental in the suggests the imagery of drowning in your personal issues. The song ends with a powerful overlapping of the lyrics “I wanted you to stay, please don’t go” on top of “I love my baby, but I’m fading away, I wanted to stay”.
Sunsetter
“Sunsetter” is another dreamy song. Reverbed vocals lay on top of a victorious major key track. This piece is powerful and moving. The lyrics paint the dream of forever with someone you think so highly of. The title of “Sunsetter” creates powerful imagery. Love can be powerful and all-consuming. When someone has your heart, it is like they have the entire world. In your mind, they control the cosmos. They set the sun, they hang the moon in the stars. That is what this song is about. You want to be with them for your entire life, which is emphasized by the repetition of “You and I forever” to end the song.
All My Affection
This track describes complete devotion in love. Love is scary. Love is dangerous. Sometimes, it can be really painful. In spite of all of this, we keep putting ourselves out there and opening our hearts. That is what this song is about. “All My Affection” illustrates the complete devotion of yourself to another. They have all of your love, no matter what happens. The low vocals and mellow guitar create a vulnerable sound, putting listeners in the moment with the subject matter.
Endless Ways
“Endless Ways” immediately begins with an upbeat and optimistic backing track. The fun thing about love is through getting to know someone, you get to know things about yourself. This song is about how people are a reflection. How you feel about them and how you treat them and react to them tells you things about yourself and the way your life develops. Love is most beautiful when you have the chance to grow with someone, which does require vulnerability and honesty. The exciting instrumental suggests a hint of throwing caution to the wind and diving headfirst with someone.
Streetwise
Sometimes love is temporary. Sometimes that is the most exciting part. “Streetwise” depicts the exciting sensation of a romance that burns hot and quick, emphasized by the quick instrumental. The guitar creates an optimistic emotion. However, the fast tempo is constantly being pulsed somewhere underneath it. This contradicts with the happy feelings in the guitar by concocting a warm yet unsettling feeling. Restlessness is prominent in a situation where you know you’re on borrowed time, and the instrumentation aurally creates the sensation of being enticed by someone’s hot and cold tendencies.
Dark Circles
“Dark Circles” has a primarily electronic instrumental, with a synth melody and vocalizations in the background. This track depicts the feeling of losing yourself after losing someone else. When you’re in love, you intertwine your lives and sometimes your identities. Losing that other half of yourself can create the sensation of a void that keeps you up at night as you process and try to find yourself again. The synths create a repetitive countermelody that suggest an underlying sadness.
Three Of Swords
“Three Of Swords” has echoey and dreamy sounds in the guitar, drones, and reverb that create the sense of something faraway. This track depicts a love turning sour, the sweet memories becoming bitter. At the end of the relationship, you may romanticize the past. The soft moments feel even softer when dealing with the harsh reality. You’re left yearning, waiting for someone to come back, as suggested by the lyrics “Are you coming home?” These are the moments where you want to reach out, and want to know if someone is thinking about you too. That is the perfect time to listen to this song.
The most beautiful of modern developments is the increasing number of storytelling methods. Calum Hood takes advantage of this progression and uses both lyrics and instrumentation to tell his story and connect with his listeners. “Sweetdreams” is the track most indicative of his narrative abilities and is thus my favorite off of this album. The dreamy soundscape that contradicts with the brutal reality of the subject matter captured my attention, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Hood has a skill for adding in complexities in his projects that entice audiences through both artistic ability and musical prowess.
Written By Victoria Fitzgerald
*copyright not intended. Fair use act, section 107.
