Secret Codes And Battleships by Darren Hayes

After the diverse, experimental, and stunning magnum opus of This Delicate Thing We’ve Made four years ago, the question burning in my mind was: What could Darren Hayes do next?

So in a smart move, Darren took a few steps back along with a few steps forward, yielding Secret Codes And Battleships, his fourth solo album, which has married familiarity with new takes on the themes of sadness, ends of relationships, loves lost, and sometimes glimpses of hope.  Out of all of his albums, this is the one that gathers back Savage Garden fans with mainly wistful, classically tinged melodies and knowing lyrics.

The album was preceded by three singles, the infectious “Talk Talk Talk”, the complex and fatalistic “Black Out The Sun”, and the brilliant and remorseful “Bloodstained Heart”.  But it’s just as easy to get caught up in the rest of the songs.  “Roses” and “Stupid Mistake” are two new favourites, the former because of its inspiration that can be interpreted in many ways, and the latter because of its very human message but more so because of its stellar arrangement, capped with beautiful classical flourishes and winding down with a jazzy bass solo.

“Hurt” is a tough listen lyrically but its melody is as catchy as anything that’s been a hit for Savage Garden or Darren.  More likely to be a follow up single is “Don’t Give Up”, which name checks the album’s title and perhaps sheds the most amount of hope in one of the album’s songs.  The album’s title, to me, is all about the mystery of relationships, and those that simply go wrong as they battle on until there’s some kind of truce.

Opt for the deluxe version of the album if you can, and you’ll get five more equally excellent songs, and live versions of “Talk Talk Talk” and “Black Out The Sun”.  In fact three of my most favourite songs are among these five, being “Glorious” – sort of this album’s variation of “Casey”, not lyrically but musically, it’s the longest and most compelling song with another stunning classical ending – “Explode”, and “Nothing”.

I’ve saved the best for last though.  Aside from the sparkling melodies, lyrics and instrumentation, Secret Codes And Battleships is most noteworthy among Darren’s solo albums because it is a vocal tour-de-force for him.  He has never sounded better, even better than in Delicate Thing, whether he’s singing  stunning high notes or in his down-to-earth lower range.

Secret Codes And Battleships is a return to the style of songs of the more public Darren Hayes that the world got to know back when.  But it’s also a strong stylistic statement that captures some of the best unique qualities in pop music today.