The Guardian (UK)
Darren Hayes, This Delicate Thing We've Made
by Alex Macpherson
Friday August 24, 2007

This Delicate Thing We've Made

Pop albums don't come more ambitious than this: a two-CD concept album based around Darren Hayes' relationship with his father, and his experience of coming out. Sonically, it is exquisite: shimmering, subtle electropop that pairs finely judged bleeps and beats with gorgeous banks of harmonies. The problem, though, is Hayes himself: the quavery bluster of his lead vocals strives for emotional gravitas, but too often leaves the impression of a minor tantrum. This is compounded by the frequently gauche lyrics: therapy-speak peppered with laboured references to Dorian Gray and attempts to mimic Kate Bush. When Hayes relaxes and stops trying so hard, as he does on the second disc, he is capable of some spellbinding moments: the soaring ballad Lucky Town, the jerky techno of Setting Sun, and most brilliantly Me, Myself & (i), which finds Hayes simultaneously breaking out his inner Prince and James Murphy. If only this had been the blueprint for the whole album.

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