Product Description

Darren Hayes is not only one of the finest (if not most underrated) singers and songwriters of our generation, he is also a master of reinvention. 'This Delicate Thing We've Made' is released on Hayes' own label, Powdered Sugar, and is the record he has wanted to make for years. Now he is his own boss, he's doing everything his own way. Bizarrely, it's the most commercial-sounding thing he's ever done. His old record label, Columbia, must be kicking themselves.



The album is a double-disc pop opus. It is a deeply felt, moving, and joyous celebration of life and of pop music. Though the tracks vary in style and genre, often deliberately sequenced so as to draw attention to their differences ("Setting Sun" followed by "A Hundred Challenging Things" is one of the most dramatic changes of mood I've ever heard), together they form a whole that is one of the most enjoyable and one of the most intelligent pop albums of the last decade.



It seems inspired by, and certainly deserves to be regarded alongside, albums such as Madonna's 'Ray of Light', U2's 'Achtung Baby', Prince's 'LoveSexy', and Peter Gabriel's 'So'. There are musical nods to these artists, and others.



In terms of style, there is pure pop celebration here, in the form of songs like "Listen All You People", "Tuning of Violins" and the first single "On the Verge..." "Casey" proves that melancholy, yearning lyrics don't have to be stuck on ballads, but can be sung over up-tempo synth-pop to heart-wrenching effect. In tracks like "Bombs Up in My Face" and "Me, Myself and (I)" Hayes is channeling Prince at his funkiest best.



To be honest, any 11 of the tracks could have been released as an album, and would have made a great record. But by giving himself room to explore musical avenues, develop his themes, and (dare one say it) nudge the whole thing towards being a concept record. Hayes has managed to craft an album of intricate narratives and personal confessions that simultaneously document his arrival at peace within himself. He has created something that really demands to be listened to, that hooks you and completely seduces you.



The UK's NME Magazine called him a genius. They weren't wrong.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. A Fear Of Fallling Under
2. Who Would Have Thought
3. Waking the Monster
4. How To Build a Time Machine
5. Casey
6. Step Into the Light
7. Sing To Me
8. A Conversation With God
9. The Sun Is Always Blinding Me
10. Listen All You People
11. The Only One
12. Bombs Up In My Face
13. The Great Big Disconnect

Disc 2:

1. The Future Holds a Lion's Heart
2. On the Verge Of Something Wonderful
3. Neverland
4. Walk Away
5. Maybe
6. Me, Myself And (I)
7. Lucky Town
8. I Just Want You To Love Me
9. Setting Sun
10. A Hundred Challenging Things a Boy Can Do
11. Words
12. The Tuning Of Violins

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3498 in Music
• Released on: 2007-08-21
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.com
Ex-Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes stretches his legs a bit on his third solo release, adding a bit of bombast to the radio-friendly boogie. With song titles like "How to Build a Time Machine" and "Waking the Monster" (about a mad professor building a creature with a "phonographic needle and a stereo heart"), it seems Hayes is reaching for more than a simple pop album, and the double-CD length belies the need to say more than you can squeeze into a three-minute radio single. The result is practically a dance-pop concept album, sprawling without quite being epic, occasionally straying into conversational, train-of-thought lyrics that vaguely recall an R. Kelly "Closet" episode. While the single, "On the Verge of Something Wonderful," delivers a catchy chorus over tightly packed production, This Delicate Thing We've Made lacks the kind of monster jams that elevate an album like Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds out of the dance-pop pack and into the stratosphere. Still, Darren Hayes delivers enough variety and soulfulness to keep the listener hanging on through 25 tracks to see what happens next--in the era of 10-second ringtones and downloadable singles, that's no small feat.--Ben Heege

Album Description
Darren was a member of the Australian mega-pop duo Savage Garden. He is the writer and singer of the kind of evergreen worldwide smash hits that will be played as long as adult oriented radio exists. Between the four albums that he has crafted so far -- two with Savage Garden, two solo -- Darren Hayes has sold more than 25 million records. He broke his own with the single I Knew I Loved You as the most played record on adult contemporary US radio (breaking the records of Darren's own Truly, Madly Deeply). He recently made history at NYC's legendary Joe's Pub for fastest show sales by selling out a gig in less than ten minutes and then a second in fewer than seven. He is the third most popular Australian musical export of all time. Only INXS and Kylie trump the pop Midas touch that few give him proper credit for. Standard Jewel Case.

Album Details
2007 Release of the Ambitious Third Album from the Former Savage Garden Frontman. The Double CD Set Comprises 25 Tracks, Some Co-written with Robert Conley While Another Sizeable Chunk were Co-written with and Produced by Justin Shave. Hayes Previewed the Song "Who Would have Thought?" on his Official Website, as Well as his Myspace Profile. The Song was was Accompanied with an Animated Short Created by his Partner, Animator and Director Richard Cullen. The First Single from the Album is "on the Verge of Something Wonderful", While Remixes of the Album Track "Step Into the Light" were Released to Dance Clubs around the World.

Customer Reviews

Too Preachy
Darren is constantly trying to write message songs. This rarely works. Hayes has an amazing voice, and this is his problem. He used this beautiful voice to cover up mediocre lyrics. Outside of Luka and Big Yellow Taxi few good message songs have ever been written, they just come across as preachy.

When Hayes says "Harry dropped the bomb anyway," he kills a decent song by showing he knows nothing of history. Why not focus on what you know about?

There are few singers today with as much talent as Hayes, and it's a pity he's covering up weak material with such a beautiful voice. Hire a decent songwriter and get back to universal topics like love or even a celebration of music, like the song "Spin" could've been had it not been a mere message song

Travelogue
On a trip recently, I experienced the avalanche of emotions that travel sometimes brings on. This album in my iPod somehow heightened it, transformed it, and gave it voice.

Pop music is the self-effacing art of condensing life in a short and simple form. It is the most difficult exercise one can imagine; a bad example shows just all the shallowness we are capable of, while a successful one seems to reach in, grab your heart, and give it a squeeze. It's a mystery, in the end, why some succeed and others don't. This one just keeps getting better. If music is a soundtrack for life, this is it; a travelogue of snapshots, each of which is capable of transporting the listener to an essential part deep down inside.

Oh, and by the way - check out his album "Spin" - it's as fresh as the day it was released.

YUk
I like it better when you sing of love....give me another Dublin Sky, Insasiable, Spin and Sparks like songs, hey!