Posted August 18, 20222 yr https://www.musicglue.com/darrenhayes His new album is called Homosexual. A very brave title in my opinion. I am not sure I would have chosen that particular title personally; as homosexual is an outdated term.
August 19, 20222 yr It's not brave. It's desperate and looking for attention, in my opinion. It's as if there is nothing more to him than his sexual orientation.
August 19, 20222 yr It's not brave. It's desperate and looking for attention, in my opinion. It's as if there is nothing more to him than his sexual orientation. Please. It took a long time for Hayes, now 50, to be able to embrace his sexuality. He grew up in the rigidly conservative Queensland of the 1970s, where his father called him the F word, he says, and kids at school bullied him for being gay before he knew what that meant. “I remember being in meetings where they were openly mocking Ricky Martin,” Hayes recalls, his posture stiffening. “I did my first video for [lead single]Insatiable … I had blonde hair, I was dancing [in it] and the head of the record company told everyone that I looked ‘too gay’. They cancelled all of the promotion in the US for that album.” After that, Hayes says, “My career in Australia and in the US pretty much just stopped.” The video for Insatiable was eventually reshot with a female love interest. It was a “horrible time”, Hayes says. “I was constantly put in music videos where I was in a romantic situation with a woman or I was muted,’’ he says of his early career. “And for me, it was like, ‘No, I’m going to show you, I’m going to cast a man that I think is really f***ing sexy.’” “I realised that the entire time that I was famous, all this energy and all this love was being received by an avatar. It wasn’t being received by me,” Hayes says. “And I looked at Troye Sivan, I looked at Brendan Maclean, who’s a local Sydney gay artist that I love, I looked at Lil Nas X, and I saw this new generation who just arrive as their authentic selves. And I was so angry that I had been extinguished. I’d been extinguished by men in suits." Much of the record is devoted to celebrating his eros and sexuality. Hayes is releasing the album on his own label, a move that freed him to make music completely on his own terms, without the input of those men in suits. That felt like catharsis. He is an artist that hid his sexuality for the majority of his career. He's finally getting to celebrate himself openly and as loudly as he wants.
August 19, 20222 yr He is an artist that hid his sexuality for the majority of his career. Not really. He has been publicly out of the closet since 2005, IIRC. Edited August 19, 20222 yr by Voodoo
August 19, 20222 yr Not really. He has been publicly out of the closet since 2005, IIRC. I mean, to most people before 2005 is the majority of his career? Plus, anyone who even vaguely follows him knows that there is more to him than just his sexuality, your comment reads like internalised homophobia to me. I also wasn't aware that "homosexual" is a supposedly outdated term either. Album cover (really quite love it): @1560185216672620546 Edited August 19, 20222 yr by Jessie Where
August 19, 20222 yr I mean, to most people before 2005 is the majority of his career? Exactly. His mainstream success was as a 'straight' artist. He also hasn't released an album in over a decade — so much has changed since then. I'm sure it is liberating to see all these young artists finding success as themselves in a way he wasn't able to. He has been very open about being suicidal in the past and struggling to accept his sexuality — he's clearly put in the work to feel comfortable and proud of himself, so to call the album title desperate is absurd. Edited August 19, 20222 yr by blacksquare
August 19, 20222 yr It's not brave. It's desperate and looking for attention, in my opinion. It's as if there is nothing more to him than his sexual orientation. Thats right. Imagine the other way around. I release my new album and call it Heterosexual
August 19, 20222 yr Thats right. Imagine the other way around. I release my new album and call it Heterosexual Hmmm... I disagree. Gays, unlike straights, have always been oppressed. I do understand why he wants to celebrate himself. Edited August 19, 20222 yr by Voodoo
August 21, 20222 yr Author what is outdated about the word homosexual? It’s not a term that is particularly used as much these days. When it was used in the past, ‘homosexual’ was often used to pathologise or stigmatise same sex relationships particularly in a clinical setting where heterosexual was seen as the so called ‘norm’. Gay / lesbian is a far more inclusive term. Edited August 21, 20222 yr by slowdown73
August 21, 20222 yr Author It's not brave. It's desperate and looking for attention, in my opinion. It's as if there is nothing more to him than his sexual orientation. Why is it looking for attention? I think the guy just wants to celebrate the fact he is finally comfortable with who he is, after years of having to hide his true self. Nothing wrong with that at all and hardly desperate. The guy went through a terrible time in the 90s and the impact this had on his mental health was awful.
August 21, 20222 yr Author Thats right. Imagine the other way around. I release my new album and call it Heterosexual You are missing the point though. LGBTQ+ have often faced discrimination and oppression when coming out so it’s a positive statement he is making that he can finally be himself and is comfortable with who he is. Attitudes towards being gay have changed significantly in the last 30-40 years through changes to legislation such as the age of consent being equalised and LGBTQ+ people being given more rights against discrimination. In the past, you could be locked up for being gay or detained under the mental health and sadly these practices still occur in some countries. Heterosexual people have never had to deal with these kinds of experiences in respect of their sexuality, so they would have no need to release an album under the title ‘heterosexual’. Edited August 21, 20222 yr by slowdown73
August 22, 20222 yr Yeah I have to admit I was a bit sceptical about the name of the album at first but if you read that interview in full, it completely makes sense as an album title. Context is everything.
October 7, 20222 yr Really enjoying the album, for me Darren never fails to deliver... Looking forward to seeing him on tour again in April now
October 8, 20222 yr Is track 14 birth on the cd? It’s not listed on track listing in hmv so is it hidden?
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