戴伦中国_戴伦博客

星期五, 九月 18, 2009
great question from member of my fan club..

I had a question posed to me on the forum over at my fanclub @ darrenhayes.com and I thought I'd post it and my response here.

Thanks for the 3rd blog Darren, brilliant as usual. Just wanted to pick up on (well, it got me thinking) your chat regarding meeting Walter A and have preconceptions about revisiting 'the hallowed turf' (if that's the correct expression) of the past. Having loved your last album to death (still do and will always do of course!) for me it is your best work to date. Don't get me wrong, I CAN'T WAIT for your new record to hit my ears - but perhaps, selfishly, I have become so 'into' TDTWM that mentally I'm not ready or phsyched up for your next helping of awesome-ness. I'm finding it difficult to try and disassociate myself from TDTWM and store that album for what it is i.e. a concept record and a piece of work in itself and to move myself onto your next record and take it for what it will be rather than (mentally) expecting a TDTWM: Episode 2. and trying to mentally compare the two albums when they are both dfferent entities in themselves, nor would I want to compare them. Darren, Do you get the same mental barriers when it comes to breaking away from one album and having to create a new body of work without wanting to recreate the heights of previous material and just putting everything into what the next album will be and shall stand for? Thanks again Darren for everything!! Love & Support Alex.

I absolutely love this question. I am just like you when it comes to how I attach myself to albums by artists I adore. For example - I am a massive U2 fan. But my attachment to their 'Zoo TV' period is such that there is really a holy grail, a trinity if you wil of records that I compare all of their work to. It's 'Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop'. After that, I haven't really connected to their work in the same way until perhaps 'No Line on the Horizon'. It's a blessing and a curse. As a fan, I was so deeply connected to their experimental phase that I haven't been able to enjoy the subsequent albums as much because I was always mentally saying 'I like that song it reminds me a little bit of 'x' .. or I don't like that song, it sounds nothing like 'x'. And I realise that's probably unfair to a band who want and deserve to grow and change! So I am acutely aware of the 'curse' if you will - of having made 2 albums 'The Tension and the Spark' and 'Delicate..' which are in a time capsule. My fans who love those albums REALLLLLLY LOVE THEM. And I decided not to cheat them (you) by ever making sequels to them simply because it's what you might prefer. What I've done, all my career, is make what I'm absolutely passionate about at the time. For a while, it took me a moment to work out how to follow on from the last phase. And I needn't have worried. Because the direction emerged, mostly inspired by my personal life - and suddenly the music was every bit as engaging as anything on the last album in my opinion. But it is a different album. This album is as different to 'Delicate' as Michael Jackson's 'Bad' was to 'Thriller'. It's as different as 'Like a Prayer' was to 'True Blue' for Madonna. What I'm saying is, I believe this album to be really strong. Not apologetic, not imitating the last one or apologising for not being the same. It's confident and has a personality all of its own. I've always said, as fans we often ask for more of the same. But we don't really want more of the same. We want to feel as engaged. And hopefully you'll feel that. But if you don't, I understand more than anyone! I'm a fan. x