DARREN HAYES
"This Delicate Thing We've Made"
Powdered Sugar Productions (POWSUGCDUSA1)
Release Date: August 21, 2007

This Delicate Thing We’ve Made is Darren Hayes’ third solo album, and it is also the first album he has released as an independent artist. For his first independent release, Darren was ambitious and put out a double CD. On first listen, it feels like Darren was trying to put together a kind of “concept album,” because several ideas (such as time machines) show up in several of the songs. However, by the time a listener finishes listening to both discs, you’re left feeling that Darren is simply retreading the same ideas, and are left feeling as if you’ve been going in circles.

This album is a lot to try to absorb in one listen. On the first disc, the songs average in the 4-5 minute range, and there are 13 tracks on that disc. The second disc, which contains 12 tracks, has songs that range between 3-4 minutes in length. The first disc, while it may have the longer songs, is actually the easier disc to listen to. The second disc focuses too much on midtempo and slow songs, which can make it a tedious listen.

Overall, This Delicate Thing We’ve Made is not a commercial album; sonically, a lot of what is on the album is not radio-friendly. Also, this album feels as if its longer than it really needs to be. To be honest, I think half of the songs on this album sound more like they are B-side material, and could easily have been left off. In fact, if this album had been a single CD with the strongest songs from this set, it would’ve been a great album.

Some of my favorites on the album include: “Waking the Monster,” “Sing to Me,” “Listen All You People,” “The Great Big Disconnect,” “The Future Holds a Lion’s Heart,” “On the Verge of Something Wonderful,” “Walk Away,” “Me, Myself and (I),” “Setting Sun,” “Words,” and “The Tuning of Violins.” The songs I felt could’ve been left off the album include: “A Conversation With God,” “Bombs Up In My Face,” “Lucky Town,” “I Just Want You to Love Me,” and “A Hundred Challenging Things a Boy Can Do.” I would’ve liked “The Only One” a lot better if the vocals on it hadn’t been processed; personally, I didn’t think the processed vocals added to or improved anything for the song.

This Delicate Thing We’ve Made had a lot of potential, but the final product ended up feeling rather overblown. This album would’ve been much stronger as a single disc.

(reviewed by Lesley Muir on October 19, 2007)