What’s the price of vulnerability in music? For RedHook’s Emmy Mack, it’s a full-blown sonic autopsy of her past heartbreaks.
In this deeply personal editorial, the charismatic frontwoman takes us behind the curtain of the band’s sophomore album, Mutation, dissecting the relationships—and wreckage—that inspired its most searing tracks. From toxic dynamics to hard-won healing, Emmy lays it all bare with the same raw honesty that propelled RedHook to a #1 ARIA debut.
Sure, Taylor Swift might pen pop hits about her exes while jet-setting on private planes, but Emmy’s confessions hit closer to the mosh pit than the mainstream. With alt-rock riffs and unfiltered lyrics, she turns heartache into catharsis—no luxury needed, just raw energy and a killer band behind her. This isn’t just an album breakdown—it’s a reflection of growth, resilience, and the messy beauty of letting go. Grab a cup of tea (or something stronger) and dive into the stories behind the songs that define Mutation.
Frankenstein’s Monster
This was a relationship from my past that became SUPER toxic. He was an extremely good person at heart, just with a lot of unhealed trauma, abandonment issues, and an insecure attachment style. We lived in different states, and it was a recipe for emotional carnage. His behaviour became increasingly paranoid, possessive, and controlling, and I didn’t have the tools to address that in a healthy way. Instead, I felt trapped, resentful, and consumed by self-loathing, and lapsed into a spiral of self-destruction—which, of course, only fuelled the fire. It was a straight-up f**king mess, and I’ve spent years carrying so much guilt and shame for the way I conducted myself in that relationship.
I’ve written a lot of songs about this one: ‘Minute on Fire’, ‘Kamikaze’, and ‘Alien’ off the Bad Decisions EP; ‘Psych vs Psych’ off the Postcard album; our PhaseOne collab ‘Gangrene’; and now, ‘Dr. Frankenstein’, which is a completely fresh-eyed take.
At the time when I finally managed to end things with this ex, I was extremely guilty of indulging in a victim complex. I justified my own shitty behaviour to myself as being a natural by-product of the emotional abuse on his end. But ‘Dr. Frankenstein’ is me finally owning my shit, and taking accountability for my mistakes and the part that I played in both creating and perpetuating that toxic dynamic.
Fun fact, though: after years of no contact, we actually came face-to-face again earlier this year. I got to say a heartfelt apology, we had a little hug, and I got to hang out with his beautiful new girlfriend who is an absolute queen. It was very healing!
The One That Hurt Like Hell
After six amazing months of living my most mentally well, self-caring, sexually empowered, boundary-setting life and being in the happiest and healthiest relationship I’d ever experienced, it started to become painfully evident that our lives were heading in different directions, and the relationship was starting to break down. After trying to work through the issues with honesty, empathy, and respect, it became clear that things weren’t going to change, and I realised that if I genuinely valued myself and knew my worth, I had to leave—regardless of how painful that decision was.
The song ‘Hurt Like Hell’ articulates that “oh f**k” moment with a lot of angst and frustration (plus a dirty swing riff and carnival clown synths).
I guess the most important thing to note about this one is that the old Emmy would probably have stayed in that unhappy situation and swallowed her pain out of pure fear, and probably ended up spiralling into old self-destructive patterns. So this song does mark a lot of personal growth (but nobody ever said growth don’t hurt like hell).
The Tourist
‘Tourist’ was written about the same break-up as our 2023 single ‘Imposter’: two songs written about the same heartbreak, but at different stages of the grieving process. In the relatively short space of time between writing each of them, my understanding and acceptance of that situation changed drastically.
‘Imposter’ was still lingering in the denial phase. I had enough information to know that this ex had lied and cheated, but I was still struggling to reconcile the person I thought I knew so well and loved so much with the cold, hard facts that were smacking me in the face. I wrote ‘Imposter’ with a confused heart, still somewhat holding on to a love that, as it turned out, was all just a baffling prolonged campaign of love-bombing, future-faking, and emotional manipulation.
‘Tourist’ was written from a place of defiant acceptance of that reality. With all the silver-tongued lies and illusions of that relationship shattered like a mirror ball on the floor, this new song is me holding my head high, raising a perfectly manicured middle finger in the air, and moonwalking out the door.
The Killer
This one pretty much makes The Tourist look like a Care Bear.
As a high-empathy people-pleaser with a tenuous sense of self-worth, who has always struggled to enforce boundaries with people, I tend to be a bit of a narcissist magnet when it comes to the types of romantic partners I attract. And this one was the most malignant of all.
‘Scream 2’ from the Mutation LP was written about the same abusive relationship that inspired RedHook’s 2021 single ‘Cure 4 Psycho’. But at the time that I wrote ‘Cure 4’, I had no idea that there was actually a name for the horrific experience I’d escaped from that inspired that song: narcissistic abuse.
Since then, I’ve basically earned a PhD in NA survival from the university of the internet. I’ve joined online support communities, connected with other survivors, and half of my feed is now basically just clogged with info from Instagram psychologists specialising in supporting victims of narcissistic abuse.
Myself
Arguably, my most toxic relationship of all has been with myself.
The Emmy who wrote songs like ‘Postcard Xo’ and ‘Bad Decisions’ truly, madly, deeply hated herself. She hated herself for her mistakes and the people she’d hurt by them. She hated herself for not being stronger and braver and smarter and more capable of stopping herself from being hurt by others.
In this way, the song ‘Breaking Up With’, despite being a fun, upbeat, and even slightly cheesy saxophone-infused party track, is actually a crucial song in the soundtrack to my life. It marks a huge shift in my mentality and a big milestone in my healing.
