Did you know that if you type “Darren Hayes” into your mobile phone’s predictive text it will automatically come up with Darren Gayer?  Funny, isn’t it?  What isn’t funny is the way Australian radio and people in general seem to have given up on the man who was once regarded as one of our hottest celebrities and favourite pop sensations.

Sure, he can be a bit of a knob sometimes, but to his absolute credit he is one of our loudest and proudest gay boys, constantly admonishing the Australian Government for its anti-gay marriage legislation, and being an outspoken advocate of the love that dare not speak its name.  He’s the Boy George of his era (again... kids, ask your parents!)

Darren’s last two albums, This Delicate Thing We’ve Made and The Tension & the Spark, were superb ventures into modern electro-pop which sadly failed to ignite interest, not only here but pretty much worldwide.  Some felt the direction was too “out there” and that the man needed to reel in some of the craziness and start writing fun, commercial pop music again.  Well guess what...?  

According to his regular MySpace blogs, Darren is currently working on a new album which he himself is describing as “Pop with a capital ‘P’...”.  Word has it he’s working with Rick Nowels, one of the all-time great US producers, who wrote almost all of Belinda Carlisle’s back catalogue of hit singles, and who more recently was responsible for mega-dancefloor anthems like Melanie C’s ‘I Turn To You’ and Amber’s ‘Above The Clouds’.  Having recorded a bunch of songs in LA and in the UK, where he’s permanently based now, Darren returned to Sydney at the end of September to record a number of tracks at a secret studio.

From reports on his Twitter page, he seemed to be working with a few of the band members from the old Savage Garden days (NOT, however, Daniel Jones — the “other one” from Savage Garden) and sounded like he was enjoying the process immensely, which is happy news for fans who want to see our boy back on top of the world, stealing the show at the ARIA awards and rubbing shoulders with the hoy-poloy, where he belongs.

In the meantime, if you prefer Darren’s more tripped-out electro stuff, you’ll be ecstatic to hear about We Are Smug — a side project he’s done with Robert Conley, producer and co-writer of those last two Darren albums. The ten tracks are available online at wearesmug.com and they are totally and completely free of charge.  Hoorray!  This entire recording has a beautiful electric trash vibe with some great hooks and fabulous melodies.  It’s all a bit Depeche Mode meets Nine Inch Nails, but it’s terrific, and it’s free. So go download it now.  And keep your ears open for the new Darren Hayes pop project, ‘cos it’s bound to be a corker!

Tony Hamlyn for FUSE Magazine