On his debut solo album, 2025's
ORDER chaos ORDER,
5 Seconds of Summer singer and bassist
Calum Hood turns towards deeply felt and sonically textured alt-pop. It's a vibe
Hood has perhaps pushed for with
5SOS, whose own albums have grown increasingly sophisticated and mature since they first emerged as pop-punk wunderkinds in the 2010s. Yet nothing the Australian band has done really prepares you for the nuanced and accomplished style
Hood showcases here. He recorded the album in Los Angeles, collaborating with producer
Day Wave (aka
Jackson Phillips),
David Burris, and the duo
TMS. Together, they frame his tender, naturally resonant baritone with dusky moonbeam synths, dewy electric guitars and warm bass and percussion grooves. Cuts like "Don't Forget You Love Me," "Sweetdreams," and "I Wanted to Say" are the kind of lyrical, shoegaze- and post-punk-adjacent anthems you might expect from artists like
the Radio Dept.,
Editors, and
Wild Nothing. Similarly, more electro-pop-leaning tracks like "Call Me When You Know Better" and "Endless Ways" nicely evoke a blend of
M83 and
Phoenix influences. That said,
ORDER chaos ORDER never comes off as overly derivative, and
Hood manages to grab you with a style and emotional pathos that feel genuine. The result is an album that shimmers with a dreamy, golden-hour energy that sticks with you. ~ Matt Collar
