Darin 'Breathes' Deep In New Waters

This blog has been quite remiss of the incredibly talented Darin, a Swedish vocalist who came to prominence in 2004 when he was named runner-up on the Swedish counter part of 'American Idol'/'Pop Idol' (a show who's alumni also includes Agnes Carlsson). I believe the last time I brought him up was at the beginning of the year, not long after his most recent album was released, stating how his album track "Girl Next Door" sounded like a male version of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance." (The two are relative carbon copies with different lyrics -- I have a penchant for playing them back to back with my iTunes song fade in...I feel like such a trend-setting DJ when I do...heh.)

I was first introduced to him late last year thanks to the ever-lovely PosterGirl, and his fourth and most recent album, Flashback, is chock full of pop anthems and hasn't left my playlist rotation since it was released (esp. "Dance", "Road Trip", "Kamra", "Strobelight", "See U At the Club", heck, the whole thing is really very good). I still maintain that Flashback is one of the strongest pop albums released in 2008. Although the album was not released stateside, he has gotten a bit of press for co-writing the pop epicness that is V Factory's "Love Struck" (and providing some backup vocals -- the song sounds very Darin, one of the many reasons why it's so good!).

I bring him up now because a lot of new (and exciting) things are starting to turn for Darin's favor. His most recent single effort, a relatively straight but still airy and lovely cover of Coldplay's 2008 super-smash "Viva La Vida", has already gone to #1 in his homeland. While I found the choice of such a recent song a bit strange, his version stands on its own as Darin clearly interprets the song his own way, and the two versions are starkly dissimilar (as a true cover version should be). And not unlike his counterpart in Agnes, he is attempting to branch out and release material internationally.

The lead single from Flashback, the RedOne produced "Breathing Your Love", which features Kat DeLuna at her arguable best vocally, will see an official UK release at the end of November. This is no doubt thanks in part to Agnes' success there earlier this year with "Release Me". Should this single do what it should, it has very big potential to see US release, and given the influx of RedOne singles spinning on radio playlists and the expected release of Kat's much delayed sophomore album Inside Out in early 2010. Check out the video below of Darin performing the song live, and check out the official music video with Kat here.

If anyone deserves crossover success into more mainstream pop markets, it's Darin. It's painstakingly obvious that the current radio scene is missing an unabashed male pop/dance vocalist, and my money is on Darin and my other favorite up-and-coming male pop-er Simon Curtis (more on "Delusional" and 8 Bit Heart to come!) finally getting their due sooner rather than later. And it should be noted that the Flashback album, the majority of which recorded in 2007-2008, saw Darin leaping into collaboration mode with RedOne just as he was working with Lady Gaga and her The Fame album -- which translates into: he was crafting hits with today's most sought after producer of the moment long before the US/UK industry overwhelmingly embraced him.

Please, do your part and get the word out about this promising "new" artist!