Some people want him, but we don’t know if we need him…

[Video][Website]
[4.75]

Jake Cleland: Jesus Christ, how is Darren Hayes so good-looking now? I’m not even going to bother attempting to distance this from his work with Savage Garden, because “Affirmation” was so meaningful at a time when meaningful songs were being revived from the anesthetised, braindead state music was in during the early nineties. That’s a bit harsh, and the whomping synth is certainly something, but Hayes’ vacuous bleating doesn’t even approach the melodic range of the Garden. As long as he’s performing the classics on reality television shows, he’ll need to work a lot harder to make up for the time away.
[3]

Michaela Drapes: Imagine my shock when watching this video when I realized that Darren Hayes clearly has some sort of Dorian Gray deal going on here. Only thing is, when they found the painting in the cupboard, this stinker of a song fell out, too, dissipating into dust before anyone could even notice it was there. A quadrillion points deducted for the ultra-dated filter house Fruity Loops business that had me convinced for at least 15 minutes that it was an actual sample of an actual track.
[3]

Edward Okulicz: Hayes has marked time making some good pop songs to the delight of a reduced fan base and some actual critical appreciation over the last decade, but it’s unfortunate that since he got married and became happy, really great pop songs have been a lot thinner on the ground. I wouldn’t wish the misery that powered his best work on my worst enemy, let alone a singer who throws us a pleasant, amiable Tears For Fears-ish nugget like this
[7]

Ian Mathers: I go back and forth between thinking that Hayes’ post-Savage Garden output is underrated and brilliant or that it’s just trying too hard. This one seems to indicate that he’s comfortable making super-poppy singles again, which is nice, even if part of me wishes that it was a bit knottier in the vein of The Tension and the Spark. I also wish this was more of a Psychedelic Furs homage, but you can’t have everything.
[7]

Katherine St Asaph: Darren breaks into Florrie’s stash of helium and sprays enough waves over the track that you can only see it through a half-haze. And then he starts to talk(-talk-talk), weedy and unenhanced, and kills the high. When will guys learn that all they have to do is just sigh out some backing vocals?
[6]

Brad Shoup: Man, this sounds like someone fleshed out a tossed-off demo from Cupid & Psyche 85. Has Hayes always sounded like Green Gartside? It’s there in his vowel articulation. Oh, and in the way he just wants to TALK. ALL. THE. TIME. It’s a flimsy song, and the imagery is muddled (unless you can clarify how a miracle can be “clumsy”), but that Scritti sense coupled with a fantastically-textured intro is keeping me from rating it too low.
[6]

Alfred Soto: I’ve heard few combinations as deadly as Hayes’ breathy sincerity and that stuttered synth hook.
[3]

Mallory O’Donnell: Christian pop for lapsed atheists.
[3]