A few years ago, Gary Harding and James McGuire, two young men from Dublin, sat together in a café and scribbled on a piece of paper everything they wanted to achieve and everything they wanted to avoid with their new band. The meeting happened the morning after the disheartening break apart of a previous line up. The next 12 months was spent working out of a spare room, teaching each other the merits of songwriting and studying the greats.

Gary says "we confined ourselves to a studio environment for months and months with guitars and pianos, a 7 year old Mac with glitchy software trying to write stuff that moved us and was worthy of real pop music. We wanted to write music that would still sound solid in 20 years."

Renowned pop producer Stephen Lipson heard a snippet of one of their demos. Stephen knows his hits. Many of the foremost pioneering names in pop have entrusted their sound to Stephen, among them, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Grace Jones, Ultravox and Pet Shop Boys. Within a few weeks they boys were ensconsed in a West London studio sprinkling a little bit of magic on those demos. Inspired by 80's electro pop, 90's grungy guitar indie, and the draw of a massive chorus, a blueprint was laid down.

The pair released two EPs ("Echoes" and "It's Just One Look") receiving crtital acclaim, extensive airplay and building a loyal following.

Darling began working with rising producer Philip Magee (Kodaline, The Script) early in 2016 recording demos and it quickly became clear an album would soon be ready.

"The goal was always to put together a body of work that represents who we are. This is a record about relationships. It’s about the two relationships that define the last decade of my life. When I listen to the record that’s what I hear."

Darling is following