Secret Codes & Battle Ships

Okay, it'd be pretty unfair if I don't write anything about an album, which I had on replay on my lappy and my Ipod for days now, and I'm pretty sure most people had forgotten about this guy, or haven't even heard of his name. The album that I'm taking about is called 'Secret Codes & Battle Ships' by Darren Hayes.

Darren Who? I won't blame you if you don't know him, but if you told me you haven't heard of the Savage Garden duo, then my best guesses are that you were either born after your parents survived the Y2K bug or you've been in coma since the early 90s and had just woke up recently. Yes, Darren Hayes was half of Savage Garden which gave us hits like 'I Knew I Love You' and 'I Want You'.  After their split, Darren embarked on his venture as a solo artist and the other one went MIA, or at least I thought so. Darren had some hits and misses, one in particular is 'Insatiable' which was released on his first solo album back when I was like 14 or 15.

He finally released this album this month and it did pretty well on the Itunes chart, right behind Kelly C and Coldplay. This album is a pure pop album as Darren's voice fits pop music perfectly. Most of the lyrics are quite poetic and he co-wrote all of the songs on the album. I first noticed his comeback when he released his first single 'Talk Talk Talk' as it was catchy and dance-floor friendly. 'Bloodstained Heart' was released later as the second single in Australia, it was not as catchy as the first single as it start off slow and the music kinda build up as the song progress, Darren delivered the song well but this one needs time to sink into my ears. 'Black Out The Sun' was the second international single, and I only realized this after endless replays on my lappy. 'Turn off the sun, take down the moon' as love isn't coming back. Killer lyric! Despite all of the pain and sorrow in the song, it kinda gives you hope and eases your pain.

Other songs on the album didn't fall far from genre of pop, and this is not necessary a bad thing. Darren played it safe as pop has always been his thing since the Savage Garden era. There's no need to change that when you can make it better. By the way, I give my standing ovation to Darren for hitting those killer high notes on most of his song like no other male artist can. Thank you, because of this I can never sing 'Black Out The Sun' properly.

*My personal favorites on the album include: Taken By The Sea, Black Out The Sun, God Walking Into The Room, Roses, Cruel Cruel World, Explode.