Darren Hayes - Homosexual

I’m not usually one of these people to criticise weird production elements but to me this sounds really badly produced? It sounds like a demo, and a really rough one at that? I actually stopped it half way through because I thought his voice and the melody jarred against the instrumentation so badly. Am I missing something here?
 
I’m not usually one of these people to criticise weird production elements but to me this sounds really badly produced? It sounds like a demo, and a really rough one at that? I actually stopped it half way through because I thought his voice and the melody jarred against the instrumentation so badly. Am I missing something here?

I have to agree - although I think the sound and production sounds amazing. It’s more the vocals and Darren singing a lot in a higher tone.
Never been a fan of his songs where he sings that high, but that is just me :-)
And I do love his solo albums a lot.

Looking forward to new music from him, and I’m excited if the album and next single is in the same electronic direction.
 
I’m not usually one of these people to criticise weird production elements but to me this sounds really badly produced? It sounds like a demo, and a really rough one at that? I actually stopped it half way through because I thought his voice and the melody jarred against the instrumentation so badly. Am I missing something here?

When I listened to it during the live premier it was a lot as I was just playing through my phone. I then listened through Spotify with headphones a few times and it clicked so maybe give it another try.
 
When I listened to it during the live premier it was a lot as I was just playing through my phone. I then listened through Spotify with headphones a few times and it clicked so maybe give it another try.

I was the same. I watched the premiere on my phone and was super disappointed. I thought it was badly produced and too repetitive.

After listening a couple of times on headphones I can confirm the production is incredible and I’m now fully in love. Darren never disappoints!
 
The mixing sounded a bit off to me first time too, but after another listen it totally makes sense sonically. It’s lo-fi 80s sounding, with foregrounded vocals that perfectly portray the fervent, all encompassing feeling of longing for someone.

i mean, it’s self produced self recorded so that’s probably the ultimate reason (self recorded vocals seem to always come out quite foregrounded; see Kylie) , but it isn’t bad (in this case) by any means.
 

londonrain

Staff member
Not the final thirty seconds being the best part of the song dddd.

I'm not really a fan of the "sing the title once and then sing it again an octave higher" approach (see also: Paloma Faith's Only Love Can Hurt Like This) but I'm here for this. I can definitely see it being a grower.

I can't believe this is his first music video in nearly ten years (since Stupid Mistake in May 2012).
 
Am I by your side?
Am I on my own?
Do I dare to speak?
Will I die alone?
Am I five decades?
Am I twenty-four?
Laden with desire
Never felt before
Teenage passion
Middle-aged despair...

This is absolutely brilliant. It sounds like the result of putting Robyn's 'Dancing On My Own', Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' and Darren's own 'Casey' in a blender. And a lead single that is almost 6 minutes long? In an era where songs seem to be intentionally shortened to two and a bit minutes for the Tik Tok generation, the assuredness of this track is so intoxicating. Darren's vocals are perfection, and for a man whose sexual identity was very much a journey it is nice to see a real confidence in this aspect of himself in the video too.


x
 
I noticed a while ago that Scott was the only person on my insta followers that also follows Darren. I didn’t even twig that he’d be in the video so that was a very pleasant surprise.

The song has been stuck in my head all day and I’m obsessed.
 
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