RedHook Make A Splash With Their First Full-Length Album ‘Postcard From A Living Hell’
by Iceis Augustino
RedHook is an Australian indie, alt-pop-rock band. They released their first full-length album ‘Postcard From A Living Hell’ on April 21st, 2023. The band released the first single from the album, “SAY”, on September 16th, 2022. The band announced the album and release date on their social media accounts on November 24th, 2022. RedHook made their musical debut on June 1st, 2018, when they released their debut single, “Minute on Fire.” They would eventually follow it up with their first EP, ‘Bad Decisions’ on April 23rd, 2021. The EP has garnered 13,000,000+ streams on Spotify since its release. The EP’s title track, “Bad Decisions,” is currently the band’s most streamed song, with 9,585,574 streams on Spotify. The band has received major support from radio outlets like triple j and publications like NME and You Make The Scene, who had things like this to say about the album “RedHook is unapologetically authentic and their fanbase loves them for it.” “RedHook at their heaviest!? And I am literally obsessed. Tapping into that power and Emmy sounds like a dark goddess. I love those ‘I’m angry’ attitude moments and that belter of an ending.” and “Intense, poignant and raw.”
‘Postcard From A Living Hell’ is full of bright, bubbly chorus melodies, infectiously explosive choruses, and fiercely ferocious groovy instrumentals. Songs like “Off With Your Head” and “Psych vs, Psych” provide a more heavy, intense, and gritty sound on the album, as they contain dark, ruthless guttural vocals, thumping floor-shattering drum beats, valorously demolishing guitar riffs, and blunt belligerent lyrics like:
“Go on and wave your pitchforks in the air, just like you just don’t care / ‘Cause you don’t care / You only Hate / Just wanna instigate a fucking police state / Heads are rolling ‘Off with your head!’” and “Cruel intentions / Stalemate on the front lines /Dying from the drama / Screaming like a rabbit in a cage of trauma / Dig in nails / Systems fail / Just another fucked up fairytale.”
Meanwhile, songs like “Soju” have a slower, laid-back, and chill vocal delivery and instrumental that includes a classy regal addition of a saxophone and grandiose gang vocals at the end to emphatically deliver the cut-throat defiant chorus for the final time.
“So, here’s another fuck you / Don’t you tell me what to do / Too old for this shit / I quit taking it from fucks like you, and maybe one day I might say it to your face / Instead of swallow it down like soju.”
The album concludes with the song “SAY”, which includes a lively instrumental and a vibrant, dynamically cheeky chorus that Emmy Mack delivers with moxie. Overall, ‘Postcard From A Living Hell’ in its entirety has a diverse, bold, and titillating-sounding atmosphere in a pop-punk format.
The album was produced by Stevie Knight, mixed by James Paul Wisner, and contains features from the likes of Yours Truly, Sly Withers, and The Faim.
Lead singer Emmy Mack had this to say regarding the opening track “Postcard Xo”:
"'Postcard Xo' is a pretty dark song, both musically and thematically. It's about finding yourself back in the familiar landscape of rock bottom after a string of preventable fuck-ups, wrestling with feelings of guilt, shame and worthlessness, and wishing the worst for yourself - because that's exactly what you feel like you deserve.”
You can listen to ‘Postcard From A Living Hell’ now.
Keep up with RedHook by following their social media links below!
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PHOTO BY BRANDON LUNG