Today I received the just released Mika CD. I hit mute on my television, left my laptop humming and listened to the whole disk, and it was easy to do. This kid's got that special something. I pre-purchased his CD after I saw his "Grace Kelly" video on the music television channel.
I was very pleased that all of the songs that I heard were obviously by the same artist that produced Grace Kelley. I say that because sometimes you hear a song, it's great, you get the whole album and that song just happened to be a different flavor than the rest of the work. This was all Mika flavor! I was also impressed to see his name next to every song "written by Mika". Only a couple had co-writers.
So Mika has an amazing range, he hits the most beautiful cascading highs, and drops into whispery billowing lows. What ever his formula is, it's perfect. He has found a place that is refreshing and downright charming to hear.
-Grace Kelly: exhibits this range perfectly, its fun and epic at the same time which isn't always possible. This is effective much in the way that the song "I believe in a thing called love" by Darkness, but without the metal edge or dated feeling. Mika carries his whimsy in a completely modern tone - while still occasionally evoking the feelings of retro Broadway stylings. Grace Kelly is a perfect work of art.
-Lollipop: fun banter, feels like frolicking in a parade.
-My Interpretation: Soft and inviting yet with a surprisingly powerful chorus. The piano lulls you but before you know it you have been carried off into a state of heightened buildup that you only notice when you are returned again to the piano.
-Love Today: A modern number, Mika's high voice floats and seemingly dances over heavy pulsing drums while it sways back and forth into a strong street corner like bullhorn spoken word (think Beck's "Where It's At").
-Relax: Unlike it's title, this song is a sad song that is trying to relax. It is almost as if we are taken inside his head while he self talks himself into comfort, at one point it feels as though he has transitioned from himself to speaking these words of acceptance to someone else.
-Any Other World: Begins with a woman's monologue that speaks of love gone wrong, losing an eye and never loving a man again. Mika's voice soft and rich (like chocolate) voice stretches over the singing piano that plays in short and quick strokes evoking the flutterings of butterfly wings, it begins to blossom as the song rises slowly with heavy strings, resulting in a beautiful power, that strengthens his words. The strings descend into the short flitters we initially heard, charging the variable of emotions. This song could be taken in one of two ways, staying in an unhealthy relationship means leaving your original childlike dreams of the world you used to live, or it could mean leaving the relationship to enter into a new world without the pain of the relationship. A matter of perspective I suppose. Either way, the song ends where it began.
-Billy Brown: A perky jingle about a man with a wife, children and a dog who falls in love with a man. Interesting, would have liked to hear a little more emotion about the main character, but I commend him for covering this content. For love is love.
-Big Girls: Starts out so cute with the slurping of a straw! This song's content reminds me of Queens "Fat Bottom Girls" I respect the ode to diversity, as in the last track all the varied beauty in the world is appreciated. And I appreciate that for indeed beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.
-Stuck in the Middle: The sweetest melody strung together with the highest of the high voice sprawling over a heavy beat. This song ponders a relationship, and the presence and depth of where to go, stuck in the middle. I like the piano that floods in like cabaret at the end mixed with very nice and improv sounding vocals.
-Happy Ending: It begins with an alluring multiple voice intro, and Miko's melancholy voice especially with those sweeping "I's" is immediate in it's infectious beauty, causing you to fall in love with it's bittersweet sound. The song multiplies itself lending to more and more power, you know right away that it will be a song you will love.
----Now here is the tricky part, if you look at the song directory on the back of the CD it appears as though the next song is a bonus track called Ring Ring, but before you get to that you will remain on track 10 which was the last song, you will hear a strangely long amount of silence, hang in there, don't skip to the next song, because there while eventually arise another section of track ten "Over My Shoulder". To simplify, "Happy Ending" and "Over My Shoulder" are both on track ten, with a very long break of silence in between. But it is so worth the wait!!!
-Over My Shoulder: The most amazing track, it is so lovely that you almost feel as though you are in Church, his voice is slow and echoes profoundly with such sweet perfection. He delivers into space with such control that you feel you are in the presence of something holy or royal. There is only the slightest landscape of sound that his voice cascades over. I love this track, it is magic.
-Ring Ring: the bonus track, fun and confident "leave me alone!" it's upbeat adventure ends abruptly, I found that interesting.
All and All - Mika not only lived up to the wonderful song that prompted me to buy his album but there were many more wonderful surprises. I felt like a kid in a candy shop, like I just saw a Broadway play, or visited Willy Wonka, it is indeed otherworldly and I will be visiting a lot.
Mika is a super talent with a wonderful ability to convey a strong but ethereal sense of being that swallows up every song in his unique wrapper. He has his own voice, and while I mean that literally I also mean it figuratively. I love this album, it's fresh but mature in construction. I highly recommend it.
This album is genius. I saw Mika in concert on Monday at the Chicago Metro. It was fun, incredible, and amazing! If you like this album, you have got to see his live performance. But, once you've seen him live, you'll want to see him again and when compared to the live performances, the studio versions of his songs seem flat. Now I can't wait for the live CD version!
P.S. To those of you who claim Mika's ripping off Freddy Mercury et al., get a dictionary, look up the word "homage," and learn to recognize the difference between a rip off artist and an artist honoring the spirit of a predecessor.
I was 18-20 when Queen was at its zenith. Mika's music doesn't merely recall that musical time or remind me of events that took place 20+ years ago, it makes me *feel* like I'm 20 again. How cool is that! The kid is a genius who deserves all the accolades we can give him (particularly since there doesn't seem to be enough payola flowing to the radio stations to get him much playtime)!
Lebanese born and UK based Mika is the first great discovery of 2007. His brilliant debut CD is a throwback to the catchy fun filled pop of the eighties.
Lead off single, and current UK #1 "Grace Kelly" is an upbeat, piano driven song with shades of Freddie Mercury in the acrobatic vocals (Freddie gets name checked in the song) and cocky lyrics like "Why don't you like me, why don't you like me, why don't you walk out the door". It is currently making it's way up the Billboard Hot 100.
"Lollipop" is a bouncy, horn sprinkled, clap-along pop song, remniscent of Wham!. Catchy and fun.
My favourite track has got to be "Relax, take it easy". The opening notes remind one of The Cutting Crew's eighties smash "I just died in your arms", but this is transformed by the chorus into a shimmery, synth driven Scissor Sisters-like dance number with lovely falsetto,
The Beatles-esque "Billy Brown" is a tale of a married man who fell in love with another man.
"Happy ending" is a lovely piano ballad with choir like backing vocals, and this segues into the melancholic, haunting and beautiful "Over my shoulder" with angelic falsetto.
Upping the tempo again, and closing off the disc is the brilliant dance/rock of "Ring ring", which to me is the best song The Killers never recorded.
If you like Queen, Wham!, Scissor Sisters, and catchy fun pop generally, get set for a thrill!!!
I never had any interest in Pop music - finding it unimaginative and repetitive (when someone has a classical background - most pop music is boring) - however, when a friend gave me this CD as a gift - I listened to it and found it extremely fun. Absolutely refreshing. Maybe it has references to other artists - but the nice melodies, beautiful orchestration and some very wacky things that appear in some tracks are very very amusing (like the Grace Kelly sampled voice in "Grace Kelly"). This is probably not for the mundane, easy-listening customer and I found very impressive his astounding 5-octave vocal range. The tongue-in-cheek attitude is also fun - I don't know much about pop music, but I find this absolutely delicious.
I bought the UK release on a friend's recommendation, and I have to say Mika is my favorite new artist of the past several years. Every time I listen to this CD, it just makes me *HAPPY*. People keep comparing Mika's voice to Freddie Mercury, but the music makes me think of a fresh new take on my favorite Erasure/Andy Bell songs from 15 years ago. This is happy pop at its best - catchy and fun, but with a quality and depth that bears listening to over and over.
