Hexagon Cat – Red Hexagon

--Ada Wofford

---Released 8 May 2026

New Jersey collective Hexagon Cat’s new LP, Red Hexagon is nearly as enigmatic as its name (or the band name for that matter). If either name means anything, it’s that this music contains multiple sides. Densely atmospheric arrangements coalesce, rise and fall, before sinking into one another to create a distinctly cohesive whole that glides from mood to mood without ever feeling completely unhinged.

The band consists of keys, guitar, bass, and drums and while there is almost always a lot going on, everything manages to shine in its own spotlight. The members constantly take turns leading the compositions; synth will be at the center but then suddenly you’re nodding along to a bassline so much more prominent than everything that came before that you check to see if a new song started. Yet it’s never a jarring experience. Instead, it’s like watching an exciting film, sitting on the edge of your seat to hear what happens next. And when that next part happens, you’re almost tempted to stop the record so you can reflect on how they did it without being too distracted to take in the next exciting sequence.

I got to speak to drummer and singer Jake Fuscia about the band’s recording process and he had a lot to share:

Recording

All keys, vocals, flute, and some guitar went through a Focusrite Scarlett 212 interface. This was all recorded in my tiny bedroom, and it was far from professional. You can actually hear cars passing by in some isolated tracks. We used an MXL-V250 to record the vocals.

All keys and synths were recorded on one of two different synths: The Roland Juno DS 88 has thousands of synth sounds, hundreds of keyboard sounds, and a bunch of funny and weird sounds. The official beginning of this album’s recording process was when I got this keyboard. It’s the most legit and official sounding instrument I’ve ever owned. The other keyboard is a Casio WK - 1630. This synth is far from professional and that’s the best part about it. All the patches are kind of cartoony and the synth strings are unmatched in my opinion.

The guitars mostly went through DI and I simply trusted our mix engineer Iain to make them sound cool. The bass was one of the only professionally recorded instruments. We recorded at the Kaleidoscope in Lancaster, PA. The drums were recorded in my friend Mike’s storage bin. The overheads and kick were recorded with condenser mics and all the other drums were recorded with sm57s.

The orchestral instruments (violin, viola, cello, contrabass, flugelhorn, trombone, tuba, and tenor sax) were recorded by internet strangers over Zoom. The existence of the internet was essential for this album to come together. Sound clips from Naruto and Sailor Moon were used in certain songs. Everything was thrown together in Reaper on my laptop. Iain from Tomekeeper Productions mixed the album. I actually mastered the album myself.

The Band Members and Dynamic

Rather than a traditional “band,” we’re more of a collective of musicians. The constant members are myself (Jake - drums, keys, vox), John (guitar, vox), Eric (guitar, vox), and my brother Joe (bass). Besides them, many other musicians performed on the album on various instruments. I write the songs myself and welcome collaboration and input from the others.

The Album, Musically and Thematically

The main recurring theme on the album is a fear of change and time. It’s childish and irrational but art doesn’t have to make sense. It just has to be honest.

Stylistically, the songs are all very different. I like to compare it to going to a buffet and getting a little bit of everything. You’ve got your synth pop, alt rock, prog and post rock stuff, and even some borderline punk sounding stuff.

We were very inspired by albums by bands like The Moody Blues, The Beatles, The Flaming Lips, and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. For bands like them, the album is its own art form. It’s more than a collection of songs. That’s what we all love and that’s what we tried to do. The first half of the album is basically a suite where all the songs flow into each other. We wanted the second half to be like that too, but it felt forced.

The collaborative approach to the music truly shines on this album. Their ambition for a “suite-like” A-side works wonderfully with each track delicately leading into the next. And while they may have abandoned this approach on the B-side, the songs still manage to gel together fantastically, creating a listening experience that’s highly thoughtful without sacrificing pop sensibility.

Fuscia’s vocals are a real standout, a soft timbre in a high register that weaves throughout each track, sometimes being layered into dreamlike Beach Boy harmonies. This approach is particularly interesting when his vocals are combined with the more prog or jazz like instrumental sections. It’s a unique blend that’s incredibly infectious.

Red Hexagon is available to download and stream now.