Mika

Album review

The Origin Of Love

added: 16 Oct 2012 // release date: 8 Oct 2012 // label: Island Records
reviewer: Nat Walker

Printable version

Mika�s latest release �The Origin of Love� is a cheer-driven electronic pop love-fest, and the fact that the record was apparently born of Mika�s new found happiness is clear from the moment the first and title track begins, sounding a bit like the finale of a High School Musical sequel.

There�s clubby, thumping euro-pop in the form of the Benny Benassi collaboration �Stardust�, while the vocoder-led auto-tuned wonder �Make You Happy� is how you might imagine a classic pop ballad will sound in two hundred years, when it�s sung by robots. Simpler tunes such as �Underwater� and �Kids� prove that Mika doesn�t need to rely on heavy production all the time, and are lyrically subtle and charming.

It won�t all work for everyone. The chorus of �Step With Me� sounds like a children�s TV 'learn-to-count' song, and �Popular�, which borrows heavily from an already-saccharine number from the musical Wicked, may prove too twee for even the most hardcore of cheesy-pop fans.

The stand-out track from the album is the lead single �Celebrate�, written with Pharrell Williams and produced by Empire Of The Sun�s Nick Littlemore. It�s a bouncy, catchy, disco party anthem which does exactly what it says on the title, getting everyone's heads bopping and arms waving. �The Origin of Love� will go down well with those already a fan of Mika�s work, and there�s enough of a blend of dance, electronic and outright party-pop, that even the �haters� might be forced to adopt the album as a guilty pleasure.

Stay updated with your free Music News daily newsletter. Subscribe here now!

Have Your Say