Darren Hayes will release his fifth solo album ‘Homosexual’ this autumn. 

The former Savage Garden star’s first long-player in over a decade features the singles Let’s Try Being In Love, Do You Remember?, Poison Blood and All You Pretty Things. 

In a statement about the release, Darren explains: “I named my album ‘Homosexual’ for a variety of reasons. The most obvious, is that I’m a gay man who grew up in an era when that word was used to shame and vilify people like me, so I wanted to reclaim it.

“I’m also a recording artist who came up in an era where being openly gay was frowned upon and I experienced first hand, the attempted erasure of my true identity from the marketing department of a major record label. But perhaps the most important reason I chose this title is that in 2022, I’m living in a time and in a country where the freedoms of LGBTQI+ people are more at risk than they’ve ever been. 

“Moments like the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Florida, or the constant attacks on trans people, have made it clear to me that now is the time to be as loud as possible about who I am.

“So on the front cover of my album, I’m proudly lounging upon my version of a stairway to heaven. Emblazoned across me, in the brightest hot pink neon, is a word the 11-year-old me used to be terrified of. 

“I lounge proudly underneath the electric buzz of this symbol, this term that used to be used to denigrate people like me. Now it’s my word. Now it means whatever I want it to mean. If you haven’t worked it out yet, I think it means something magical, amazing, unique and essential.

“My name is Darren Hayes. And I’m a proud Homosexual.”

‘Homosexual’ is out October 7 and available to pre-order now. Darren will play live dates across Australia and the UK beginning January 2023.

Speaking in a cover feature for the May 2022 edition of Retro Pop, Darren opened up about his experience of life as a pop star today, admitting fame is more enjoyable than it was back in the 1990s. .

“The gay experience really hit me and really touched me, because I finally understood that wow, I was 24, 25, 26, at the height of my fame, therefore I was most famous when I was still struggling with my self-identification,” he said.

“I had all this attention thrust at me when I didn’t know who the fuck I was. I had been married to a woman I was divorcing but in private. Most people didn’t even know I had been married to a woman and yet I was coming out and trying to express myself through my fashion, through all my Jean-Paul Gautier outfits, and painting my nails. 

“I was so struggling with my sexuality and trying to find my place in a world before ‘Drag Race’, ‘Will & Grace’, Lil Nas X, Troye Sivan, or Will Young. Those people and pioneers didn’t really exist.”

The increase in representation and an increasingly diverse media landscape marks a welcome change from the climate in which Darren found early success, which he admitted was “stifling”.

“My experience of being a pop star in the ‘90s was, ‘You’re fine as long as you’re not gay.’ You had all these boybands and teen heartthrobs but god forbid if you’re gay,” he explained. “It was incredibly suffocating and for me, as someone who was literally buried by a major label the minute I came out, it was incredibly stifling.” 

The hitmaker added: “There was a huge pressure back then to ‘out’ people and the misconception about me is that I was in the closet, but nothing could have been further from the truth. I was out, I tried to be so much more out because I thought, if I just came out, it would solve all my problems. 

“It took me a long time to have self-love and get rid of the toxic shame in the internalised homophobia that a lot of gay men have to go through to come out on the other side and love themselves. I was very depressed and had suicidal thoughts during that period and, had social media been around that time, I don’t know if I’d be here. It was a really tough time for me. I did as well as I could, I’m proud of the fact that I lived an authentic life and throughout my music, even during the Savage Garden days, I was really desperately trying and asking for help in my songs.”

Now, however, things are different, and it’s a relief for the superstar to return to the stage in 2022 and feel liberated to present his authentic self. 

“It’s much more vibrant and liberating to be an artist today… I never fell out of love with music, I think it was the industry actually,” he smiled, adding, “I’m sure a 23-year-old will listen to my story and be surprised there was a time when you couldn’t be gay.”

Read the full interview in the May 2022 edition of Retro Pop, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store.