Darren Hayes - Homosexual (2022)

Darren Hayes continues to flourish with the release of his first new album in over 10 years. € Homosexual' was written, recorded, performed and produced entirely by Hayes over a period of two years from his base of Los Angeles. The project follows in the tradition of true break-away solo projects, as Hayes explains, € The process brought me back to my teen experience of listening to albums like € Faith' by George Michael or 'Sign O The Times' by Prince. I wanted to convey that same intimacy and complete artistic control and freedom € Rebellious emancipation was something I was desperate to experience in both my personal and public life € . He's in confession mode, revisiting his painful teenage years, examining his relationship to his sexuality and reclaiming the experience of surviving a violent childhood and bullying; ridding himself of shame through the lens of queer joy. There's a deliberate nostalgic musical nod to the safety of the pre-2000's dance floors and queer sub-cultures that were the soundtrack to his personal coming out story. It's also a deeply personal insight into relationships at mid-life, set against a musical backdrop of synthwave and post-disco.