WHILE his Pop Idol chums have been struck silent lately, Darius Danesh is in fine vocal form. Slowing the tempo down a little, Darius treats his fans to a beautiful ballad in the shape of Girl In The Moon. One of the most appealing aspects of Darius' slower songs is that his vocals aren't as strained as they can sound when he's taking things up a notch. Although this is only his fourth single, Girl In The Moon is testament to Darius' longevity and there's every reason to assume that, provided he keeps on crafting tracks such as this, he'll be around long after Gareth Gates has recorded every karaoke cover version.

The resilient Darius is in fine voice for his fourth hit. Its another fluffy pop-rock romp, with ghostly, Beatles-style backing vocals and sparkling guitars racing towards a high pitched chorus. Catch him with Blue and Liberty X at the Route of Kings concert in Londons Hyde Park on 19th July. ****

(this review was given 4 stars )

And finally... have we gone on enough about the beauty of Darius yet? Clearly not, since here he is again, defying the Spice Girls-patented third single=ballad rule with - finally! - the first of 'Dive In''s slowies, what appears to be a re-recorded 'Girl In The Moon' on Mercury, which, in many ways, is as daft as its title would suggest (though, typically audacious lyricist that he is, Mr Danesh manges to avoid the subject of June entirely), but wins through courtesy of some orchestral blubbery, a wall of weirdly amiable wah hovering somewhere in the same county as James' 'She's A Star' and, naturally, the tremulous pipes of the boy himself. Approximately 706 times better than 'The Long And Winding Road', and that's almost before it's even got into its stride, and, like everything he does, designed to confound the unbelievers. Listen and learn, folks... this is slush without slime and as irony-free as Robbie really ought to be these days. Take that, Cowell!

Iain Moffat

Death metal guitars, headache-inducing drums, angry lyrics spat out with furious venom - these are just a few things you definitely won't find on the new single by Darius. The smooth Scot opts again for cheese with another song that somehow manages to straddle the middle ground between pleasantly enjoyable and sickly sweet. Certainly not as good as, say, 'Colourblind', the problem with 'Girl In The Moon' is that it's just too, what's the word... uneventful. It's neither a lush, grand ballad or a gentle pop rocker with a killer chorus. It's just nice and that's it.

6/10

Only ever wanting to be a pop star, Darius is a great example of ambition. He’s hardly breaking down musical barriers these days and he’s a mum’s favourite, but he seems genuinely happy and grateful to be where he is: No pop star tantrums or diva like behaviour, no moaning about punishing schedules or wanting to be ‘taken seriously’ (whatever that means). Darius makes nice pop that you can play on a sunny morning. Girl In The Moon is a chipper up-tempo ballad building on the solid if not thrilling foundation that the Scots lad has already established.

Nice 3 stars

Oh, my heart's a flutter! The divinely delicious Darius is back to fire one last arrow from his bow with the melodic ballad 'Girl In The Moon'. A soppy title of course with fancy metaphors to reduce anyone to tears. In which context, depends on your tolerance.

As I try to resist from uttering "FWORGH!" at the sleeve itself (which folds out into a poster!), this self-penned tune is pleasantly sweet and harmless. It's not as good as 'Rushes', though. I'd like to think that song is an accurate description of me - apart from the "5'9" bit. Oh come on, I'm trying to humour you, which is far from what Darius sounds like on here. You can almost picture him, wistfully singing into the mirror with this. How lovely.

The same, however, cannot be said for the b-side, a live medley of 'Bootylicious/Faith', which was excruciatingly difficult to bear during his live set-list and is just as awful on CD. Eek! Slap a permanent embargo on classic records like that. God knows what damage Darius could do to 'em.

(3/5)

DARIUS Girl In The Moon 2 out of 5

Any rational explanation as to why he's the Pop Idol it's acceptable to like? His cuteness? So what? He (yaaawn) writes his own songs? Yes, but when they're as earnest and similar as Wet Wet Wet as this, why bother? That ponytail he had in Popstars threatens to spring back on him at any moment.

Having won plenty of new fans on his brilliant Dive In tour, Darius Danesh returns this week with another corking slab of pop goodness in the shape of the brilliant ballad, 'Girl In The Moon'. Showing that he does it tenderly as well as he does it upbeat, this is another brilliant side to an undoubted UK pop talent, whilst each format also comes complete with some great bonus tracks with CD two adding previously unseen interview video footage alongside a poster booklet.

The fool returns to woo us with a ballad, gawd 'elp us.

Anyone noticed that when Darius sings, his tongue has a life of its own and attempts to burst through his teeth? Maybe that's why he sounds kinda parched or for want of a better phrase, 'smacky' as he sings what is effectively a slowed down version of Incredible. Apart from the cheesy acoustic intro (bet you cant guess when the drums come in), there's also some rather dated All Saints-centric (circa Pure Shores) delayed keyboards, plenty of overly bright pianos, and slide guitar a la George Harrison.

But more importantly, what was the girl doing in his moon in the first place?!

Be prepared. Darius - girl in the moon. Another great pop song from Darius. He's hugely talented, fit as f*** and rather a nice chap. In fact Star mag definitely would. given it five stars.

I might wax your pubes but I can't forgive you for this

Darius, how I love thee. I saw you turn on the Bristol Christmas Lights and quite honestly you gave me rushes. You are incredible. You are amazing! I even got a chuckle about your latest confession, in Heat, about letting your shag of the minute wax your pubes.

Yet, I don't think I can ever forgive you for releasing Girl In The Moon, or even further, saying this was your Beatles-esque ballad.

My dear sweet Darius, I hate to break it to you, this doesn't hold the smallest piece of kindling to even the Beatles binned material. You already had three good singles, why drag out your potential popularity by channelling in a Sneddon-esque crap song? Do you want to fall by the wayside like One True Voice?

Girl In The Moon is the weakest track of Dive In, a ballad that makes no sense whatsoever. I know I am quite awful with clichés luvvie, but not mentioning the fact you pretty much sing about the entire solar system, can you get anymore clichéd than "You're the silent silver lining my cloud, You're the secret flame that never burns out"? Further, the music has no drive, it drips of sugar-coated sweetness. Whereas Incredible rocked and drove on, this ballad has a lacklustre boredom in the same chords, the same tempo, and the same sap throughout.

Oh Darius, sweet Darius, remember you are the bloke who did Hit Me Baby One More Time on the telly. Don't try to create some power ballad in order to gain musical credibility. Fill your niche, you are the TV popstar superstar. Don't try to extend past that and try to be a legitimate artist- Sneddon already is trying to fake his way into that field. Stick to what you are good at, and Darius, ballads aren't it.

1 / 5

Ah, it's pop's very own Thunderbird, Darius, a man who'd look stiff in a rubber suit and a pin-up who likes to hit the publicity trail with one story and stick to it.

Still, give him his dues; he's bounced back as Alan Partridge once said and given radio listeners nationwide something to whistle along to on the way to work.

But, maybe Lady Luck has moved on? 'Girl In The Moon' lacks the cheesy zap of 'Colourblind', 'Incredible' and 'Rushes', which is a problem. Take away the sugar coating and you're left with nothing more than a difficult pill to swallow.

Time to stop concentrating on the pout and get back to the drawing board.

5/10 Chris Heath

Darius - Girl In The Moon

Review By Gemma Mason

'Girl in the Moon' is the forth single taken form Darius's debut album "Dive In" and follows the success of previous singles 'Colourblind' 'Rushes' and 'Incredible'. The track is co written by Darius and songwriters Pete Glenister and Deni Lew, the duo behind Sinead Quinn's debut single "I Can't Break Down" amongst other hits.

In comparison to Darius's previous releases 'Girl in the Moon' is a relatively mellow radio friendly tune that is unlikely to cause offence but at the same time lacks the spirit and punch needed to win over a new audience. However, all the elements of Darius's trademark guitar ballad sound are evident here, even if they fail to make instant impact on the listener.

Unlike his fellow Pop Idol contestants, Darius made the shrewd move of biding his time and sealing a record deal that allowed him greater creative control over his music, refusing to be moulded for an audience of young teenage girls. If this single was released by Will or Gareth it would easily reach number one. However, Darius lacks the loyal fan base that comes with the backing and moulding of an artist's product carried out by the likes of Simon Cowell.

'Girl on the Moon' is a likeable enough pop song and Darius's distinctive smooth vocals fit perfectly with the bright guitar sound of the record. However, it is a much weaker effort than his previous hits and this could be reflected in the songs future chart position. Darius has more than proved himself as a talented artist and 'Girl in the Moon' provides yet another example of how far he has come since he first appeared on our screens in Pop Stars.