Former Savage Garden frontman Darren Hayes, responsible for penning legendary hit single Truly Madly Deeply, is to tour a brand new album this October.
The multi-platinum selling band split in 2001, leaving fans anxiously awaiting Darren's debut solo album "Spin" (2002) which boasted the sizzling love song Insatiable.
Despite falling away from the dizzy glare of the 90s limelight, the 'noughties' saw the Australian singer clock up a collective total of 26 million record sales worldwide with a gratifyingly moody exploration of his darker side in "The Tension and The Spark" (2003) followed by the effervescent yet often moving "This Delicate Thing We've Made" (2007).
Four years on, in a welcome return to "mainstream pop", Hayes presents the cryptive "Secret Codes and Battleships" (to be unleashed in early October, so shrouded in secrecy, a date is not yet set).
The infectiously catchy first single "Talk Talk Talk" saw Darren collaborate with famous producer Carl Falk (Nicole Sherzinger/The Wanted), mixed by Robert Orton (Lady GaGa) and mastered by Bob Ludwig (Madonna, Bowie, Paul McCartney) and is currently available on itunes.
With Liverpool being one of just four "intimate" UK gigs, Click Liverpool asked Darren to talk (talk talk...) about why he chose to visit our fair city and what we can expect on Saturday 15th October at the 02 Academy.
Fighting jetlag after just completing a six-week promo tour of Australia, Darren enthused: "Liverpool is a great city.
"I've visited many times and love it there.
"Usually gigging in Manchester in the past, when we looked at statistics from the concert promoters, we saw that a lot of people from Liverpool were travelling to see the shows in Manchester and Birmingham.
"My need to experiment on previous projects means I might have lost a few fans along the way.
"I want to make sure this tour reaches anyone who might have disconnected from me in recent years.
"Plus, I'm doing a New Year's Eve show in Manchester, which I'm very excited about, so Liverpool was the perfect choice.
"It's going to be a small, intimate tour this time.
"The staging is going to be a trial version of what a larger tour might be.
"There'll be design elements of course but it will be just about me, my career, performing a mix of songs and interacting with the crowd."
A decade since his split with former bandmate Daniel Jones, Darren revealed that "Secret Codes and Battleships" will be a record packed with inspirational ballads closer to Savage Garden's sound than any of his previous solo work.
He said: "The tracks are not so much up tempo, although Talk Talk Talk is on the face of things, it's actually a serious song lyrically.
"If anything it's a very emotional album.
"There's a common link to the first album I did with Savage Garden.
"Very personal subject matter.
"As a gay man I can say this, it took me a while to be able to record a couple of songs for this album without crying.
"There's a song called Bloodstained Heart and it could hopefully speak to people as much as To the Moon and Back or even Truly Madly Deeply.
"It's touching that feeling of 'we're gonna get through this'.
"Positivity despite the bleak outlook we sometimes have.
"Much of the album is about the struggle to stay together in a world that wants you to split up.
"I believe it's a condition of modern living.
"We give up on things far too soon if they're not going how we plan.
"Our relationship with our mobile phones is incredible.
"We get angry and frustrated so easily if they don't work right away.
"Sometimes I have to sit back and remind myself 'It's coming from space, give it some time.'
"But this attitude can spill over into our relationships.
"I've just celebrated 5 years with my partner Richard.
"Often feel it's just the two of us against the world.
"We're all so afraid of the economy at the moment and our future in general, it means we have to take the opportunity to hold on to the people that matter.
"That's your family, it's the people you love."
Lyricist Hayes revealed how sharing deeply personal experiences through songwriting has carried him through the darkest periods in his life.
He explained: "As an artist I feel so lucky to have a job which allows me to pour my heart out.
"For instance, The Tension and The Spark album was dark, angry but ultimately life-affirming for me.
"It wasn't a huge hit but, more to the point, it saved my life.
"It was a record about overcoming depression.
"Consequentially it was very difficult to make.
"Writing is a cathartic experience that helps me enormously.
"It's very flattering to get letters from a fan telling you a song changed their life in some way.
"You think, 'Wow, I wrote that for me and someone else gets it.'
"My fans make me feel normal and I love them for that."
Brisbane-born Hayes, who has lived in London for six years, told how meeting and falling in love with husband Richard Cullen kept him here.
He reflected: "I came to London about 6 years back now, my plan wasn't at all to make it my home.
"But I wanted a change in my life.
"At that time I felt I had everything, and I loved living in America.
"But I didn't have a love in my life.
"Then Richard walked in...and I thought, my God, this is my love.
"He works in theatre so he understood what I did and he respected me
"But he wasn't a sycophantic fan or anything like that.
"So, six years in and I love the UK, in fact I just got my British passport.
"We're very lucky to enjoy the civil rights we have here.
"Hopefully one day all countries will be the same.
Commenting on the recent debate about making Liverpool's 'Gay Quarter' an official destination in the city, Darren said: "I'd love to get to a day where it doesn't matter whether you're straight or gay.
"I was born this way, no-one has any more control over sexuality than our eye or hair colour.
"The way I see it, I'm lucky to have people who love me, and that's what counts in life."
Tickets for the Secret Codes and Battleships tour can be bought online at http://Gigsandtours.com or 24hr cc hotline 0844 811 0051.
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