On the Verge of Something Career-Defining/Amazing/Perfect/etc

So, sometimes there are certain artists who are really popular yet I just can't warm to them as much as many of the record-buying public does. That was the case with Savage Garden (remember the days...) And then there are times when said artists fall out of the public's good graces when they change their style or whatever and it just clicks (much like how I'm sure there are people who disliked Kelly Clarkson's fine old stuff but lover her rubbish new stuff). Which is what's happened lately with Darren Hayes (er, lead singer/writer of Savage Garden).

I remember first seeing the video for his song "Pop!ular" on one of those morning music programs. I'd never heard the song before but something about it made me go "Wow! What happened there?" Out was all the syrup and the rose pettles and the drippy romanticism and in was new wave synth pop and lyrics like "Are you willing to sleep your way to the top?". The album that followed, The Tension and the Spark, was a real stunner. But, alas, it failed to register with record buyers and Hayes was dumped by his record company (or, I think that's how the story goes).

But, he has emerged now with his new double album This Delicate Thing We've Made, which is due out around August I believe. The first single is "On the Verge of Something Wonderful" and it is really something wonderful. I mean... it's just amazing. If this track is anything to go by then Hayes may have found a way of mixing his eclectic electronica work from Tension and merged it with the, admittedly, lush pop of Savage Garden.

The video is also something to behold. If this pans out the way I have a suspicion it might, then this will be not only one of the most amazing pop albums of the last few years, but also the record that Darren Hayes will forever have to live up to (and, hopefully, he'll be able to put Savage Garden behind him forever).

And also, perhaps, we may have a gay pop star who not only admits it and embraces it, but isn't cheapened by the mere fact that he's married to a man. He's becoming the sort of musician that every musician wants to be. Talented and free. Eep. It's exciting.

In the meantime between now the album dropping watch the video for "On the Verge of Something Wonderful" somewhere along the lines of twenty million times and only then may you finally go "Hmmm. Perhaps that's enough."