SINCE quitting Savage Garden to go it alone, Darren Hayes has proved he can carve out a successful solo career quite nicely.

The singer with heart-stopping looks will be setting hearts aflutter when he plays his chart-topping single Strange Relationship, and other solo material, at Wolverhampton Civic Hall, as part of his first UK tour.

Strange Relationship, an infectious track laden with delicious synths and soaring strings, follows Darren's debut solo single Insatiable, which crashed into the Top 20 at No.8 and stayed there for eight weeks.

Strange Relationship is the second single to be released from the Aussie's smash debut album Spin.

Fans will be able to hear his bittersweet, soulful vocals when he plays the venue on Thursday, October 10.

Hayes was only 18 when Savage Garden band-mate Daniel Jones picked him as lead singer in the days when the band was called Bliss.

Bliss lasted until 1993, when the pair decided to write and perform as a duo and began recording as Savage Garden - one of Australia's most successful groups.

The release of the band's I Want You and To the Moon and Back, in 1996, turned them in to overnight sensations, and the latter became the year's biggest-selling Australian single.

It reached number one on most charts and went gold, surpassing the sales of the previous top-selling debut single on the way.

It won the ARIA Award for Australian song of the year in 1997, after only two weeks in the charts.

Truly, Madly, Deeply climbed to the number one position in charts all over the world and gave Australia its first number one disc in America since 1987.

It stayed in the US Billboard chart for around two years, was their biggest hit and became the most played song on US radio in 1998. Savage Garden bagged many Australian, American and other awards.

Their self-titled album Savage Garden sold 11m copies worldwide, was a top seller for 1997 and went platinum seven times over within two years of release.

The second album, Affirmation, was released in 1999 and debuted at number one in Australia and number six in America, going double platinum within three weeks.

Despite the incredible success of 20m album sales and two world tours, the pair have no plans to record another album together.

Darren started work on his solo album Spin in January, 2001, and it was released in March this year.

If he was ever worried about it being overshadowed by the success of Savage Garden, he need not have been.

Spin has been a hit in its own right. It's been certified double gold after debuting at Number 2 and staying in the Top 10 for six weeks.

Recorded in San Francisco, Hayes co-produced Spin with Grammy Award-winning Walter Afanasieff - who's also worked with Ricky Martin and Mariah Carey, and played a part in Savage Garden's success - and spent a year co-writing more than 35 songs for the album.

Tickets for the Wolverhampton show are £23.50 and are available from Midlands Box Office on 01902 552121.

Lines are open Monday to Saturday from 10am until 6pm.