I recently had the pleasure of Calum Hood at his London signing event for ORDER chaos ORDER, and in those 30 seconds I had to talk to him. I knew the 2013 boy band fans made the right guy famous; he was such a lovely person.

As a long-time 5 Seconds of Summer fan, the members’ solo work has been something I’ve kept up with over the years, and we have long been waiting for Calum’s solo debut. Safe to say, the wait is over. Here are my thoughts on ORDER chaos ORDER.

Don’t Forget You Love Me

As the song starts, you can hear Calum exploring his deeper range vocally, and it is just *chef’s kiss*, as the youth say. The way he enunciates his words reminds me of dad rock, that kind of new Americana sound of 90s rock artists.

As the song continues, his voice brightens up, particularly in the second verse. It’s incredible that just with how he has chosen to sing, it tells a story. 

The lyrics are fairly easy to follow in the story of him chasing the love he’s afraid of losing.

Call Me When You Know Better

Hood picks up the pace with Call Me When You Know Better. This song definitely fits into the category of happy happy-sounding song with sad lyrics. Hood lays his heart on his sleeve, wishing to stay with the one he loves, urging her to call him when she knows better, alluding to disarray in the relationship, which he wants to fix with her, but ultimately, she’s avoiding him. All this to a backing track akin to the indie rock groups from our side of the pond. 

Sweetdreams

This is such a laid-back track compared to DFYLM and CMWYKB. It has a fun, hazy summer in the sun vibe when it starts, but Rock elements kick in as the song continues, ending with strong guitars and a steady drum to guide us out of the song, dropping that hazy feel outside of Calum’s vocal performance. Lyrically, Hood explores finding himself in a chaotic, fast-paced world, using driving throughout the song to symbolise how he’s moving through life. I had initially thought it was about tour life, as Hood says, ‘Each time that I sleep, with the road beneath my head’, but in the wider context of the song, it could mean a multitude of things. 

This is one of my favourites on the album. 

I Wanted To Stay

Although it could be very easy to discount this as another song, yearning for a love he is losing, in an interview, Hood tells us that this song is a love letter to his late dog Duke. Giving a whole new perspective when you focus the lyrics on the love a boy has with his dog. 

Throughout the song, Hood accentuates lines with ‘oh-oohs’ that elongate the words, presenting that endless feeling you get when grief gets hold. The ending chorus sees Hood begging for more time in the adlibs, repeating ‘I want you to stay’, and ‘please don’t go’. Ushering in a gut-wrenching end to the song, when you know the context.

The backing track is very easy listening. I can imagine if you added this song to a Sunday morning playlist, it would fit right in.

Sunsetter

The first thought I had was, “Oh my god, the vocals”. It’s a beautiful performance from Calum Hood; it almost tops the note change in Ghost of You Live for me. 

This song has a very nostalgic feel, like looking back and just being happy at where you’ve gotten. During the bridge, the song falls into an organised chaos, which I think just makes the song. It felt like when you’re so close to grabbing something that’s always been just out of reach, and the harsh end as Calum comes back into focus singing ‘what’s it going to be’, felt like the moment he had it in his hand. It’s a wonderfully produced song, and it takes you through a range of emotions.

All My Affection

This is a beautiful song. It starts off cutely, with a very simple, soft, melodic instrumental, and Calum using his softer vocals to carry you through the song. The lyrics present a man who has gained a mature and open outlook on love, giving the girls a look into a real yearner’s point of view. As with the title, the song really does feel affectionate, and almost like a lullaby.  

Endless Ways

Endless Ways by Calum Hood spends the first 40 seconds building with the noise of life, people chanting, laughing, and living before the drums kick in to usher the song along. As the song progresses, you get a real sense of urgency from the pace of the song, and the lyrics really focus on reflection and self-acceptance, as Hood shares ‘Sometimes, it takes somebody endless ways to know yourself. If you just wait, then you’ll see’.

It’s one of the faster-paced songs on the album, and after reading up on the writing process in Milky I think it works really well. 

Streetwise

Keeping to the pace of Endless Ways, Streetwise gets right into it. Wasting no time getting started. One thing I appreciate about this album is that all the songs are pretty much 3 minutes or longer, a rarity in the world of songs without bridges.

Streetwise has this feel-good quality that comes from the amazing vocal performance from Hood and the upbeat backing track. Having a get-up-and-dance effect to it. 

Dark Circles

Dark Circles is the shortest track on the album, but even with the shorter runtime, Hood delivers a full story.

Compared to the other songs, this is the most literal, continually mentioning dark circles under his eyes throughout the song and the different causes, including sleepless nights and tearful bursts of emotions. 

Three Of Swords

If, like me, you’ve been following Calum’s journey to be more online, you may have noticed his recent love of Tarot. At some of the exclusive performances across Europe and the world, fans were handed tarot cards with song lyrics, and I think that was a really nice way to bring the audience into his world before the album was released. But this song just brings his interest in tarot to the forefront.

On the name of the song, The Tarot Guide shares that the upright Three Of Swords represents unhappiness, heartache, sorrow and sadness. But when reversed, it represents overcoming all those sad feelings and finding a way to let go of the past.

Tarot cards have been known for centuries to show a person their pathway, taking from their past to predict the future and I feel that sentiment is reflected in this song as Calum Hood explores how his younger self thought of forever, but him now knows that life doesn’t always go in the linear way you imagine for yourself when you are young and carefree. I think this is best presented in the bridge where Hood says ‘When the pillow turns into concrete’. Juxtaposing something we all know to be a soft comfort with something hard and rough, but unavoidable, as concrete literally holds everything together, be it between the bricks of your home or the foundations of a skyscraper. The soft realities of life become an immovable object that you have to face daily, whether you notice it or not.

All in all, I like that this song makes you think more about what the lyrics mean, as with tarot, it’s up to the interpretation of the card reader.

Thinking about this album as a whole, I found it to be a well-polished window into the mind of Calum Hood, often seen as the quieter and more introspective member of 5 Seconds of Summer, and this album explores a lot of complex emotions in a beautifully presented way.

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Listen to ORDER chaos ORDER now here: https://open.spotify.com/album/0O0OCwx5K3WRMrfqwVMR2f?si=FOWmxEQLR-anAhTb1pZ94Q