PREMIERE: Darling James - 'Ultimatum Talk'

The temperatures outside are steadily dropping so, if you need a little help staying warm in the face of plummeting mercury, theMusic.com.au is stoked to be able to bring you the premiere of the comforting, building, driving embrace of Ultimatum Talk, the debut single from ex-Boat People frontman James O'Brien, aka Darling James.

With hushed, introspective vocals, O'Brien navigates the track's prickly central conceit — that of ruinous, overdue conversations, brought on by excess indifference and terribly final in their implications, that leave relationships in tatters, filed under 'too little, too late'. Underneath, Ultimatum Talk rides a crescendo wave for the first minute-and-a-half or so, slowly picking up a sense of claustrophobic urgency until O'Brien lets loose with a crashing of cymbals and ascendant organ that lifts the debut through to its conclusion a couple of minutes later.

It's as much an aural roller-coaster as it is an emotional one, as O'Brien lays everything out on his sleeve to present a vulnerable, honest, incredibly alluring composition that stands as an exceedingly strong first foot forward and leaves us pretty dang excited to see what's next to emerge from the fledgling Darling James camp.

Listen to the new cut as many times as you please above, and check out Darling James' Facebook page to better keep your ear to the ground for rumblings of future activity in the coming weeks and months.