With Australian alternative rock and electronic band Gerling currently on an indefinite hiatus, frontman Darren Cross has announced a new musical project, the aptly named Darren Cross Band.
In contrast to the quirky electronica and deftly produced pop of Gerling, Cross’ new solo work ventures into lo-fi folk and country territory, and sees Cross performing for the first time with naught but his voice and an acoustic guitar.
The Darren Cross Band’s debut single ‘Every Creep In Town’ is a short taste of the album to come, described as a “Buddy Holly meets Daniel Johnston inspired tale. An ode to the hopelessness and comedy of creepy people falling in love with the person who you, yourself, are in love with.”
Darren Cross is currently putting the finishing touches on the aforementioned self-produced album, Freak Out Inn Ill, which is set to be released early next year.
Inspired by trobadours such as Woodie Guthrie and Towns Van Zandt, Cross will also be embarking on a massive regional Australian tour to accompany the release of the album.
Cross recently played in solo mode at the newly launched Sydney music festival SkyDreams, the brainchild of a Syndey-based blog, alongside Regular John, The Holy Soul, Dead China Doll, and Whipped Cream Chargers, as well as many others.
Cross also made headlines earlier in the year after he courted controversy by claiming that Delta Goodrem’s hit ‘Sitting On Top Of The World’ “totally rips off Arcade Fire’s ‘Rebellion/Lies’, a sentiment that was apparently shared across a number of different music industry outlets, with the story spreading quickly across social media.
Darren Cross is no stranger to a side-project either, having previously been a part of Gerling, Jep and Dep, the E.L.F, and Betty Airs, as well as running the music production company Bernstein Studios.
Not content with his array of music side projects, Cross also completed his first movie score earlier in the year for an upcoming feature film, and has dappled in remixing for artists such as The Sleepy Jackson and Youth Group.
You can have a listen to the first single from the Darren Cross Band, ‘Every Creep In Town’ below.
