MIKA – My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

MIKA – My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 46:24 minutes | 580 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mika – Republic

It’s been four years since English singer-songwriter Mika released his last album No Place In Heaven, a sublime record filled with growers that gave us what is possibly his career-best song in “Good Guys”. Mika has graced us with no less than four way-above-average gems in a row (along with one okay summer song). Even if the rest of My Name Is Michael Holbrook will be disappointing – and that seems as unlikely as Christina Aguilera having another top ten hit – , the album clearly deserves our attention. If you get hyped up for any upcoming record these days, it should be this one. Because all the signs point towards Mika dropping the best album in his impressive discography.

Mika finally takes off his mask: after a long American journey to draw on his roots, he has now rediscovered Michael Holbrook (the real name of the singer behind hits Relax, Take It Easy and Grace Kelly). Admittedly, Mika has stayed true to the extravagant and colourful musical flourishes which characterised him in the 2000s, but the inherent introspection on this fifth album inevitably elicits some intense emotions which are not always pleasant to deal with. Consequently, he does not hesitate to broach his most negative feelings, like jealousy on Dear Jealousy, over a 90s-style production reminiscent of Savage Garden’s biggest moments. On San Remo, despite the summer lounge-style ambiance, Mika evokes the troubled view of his timid adolescence, regarding his sexuality. As for the song Tiny Love, a track whose style is similar to Freddie Mercury’s, he discusses the feelings of love for both the big and small things in life.

My Name is Michael Holbrook is also a vibrant tribute to women: those in is family, first of all on the track Blue; then in a tragically corollary way, the ballad Paloma is dedicated to Mika’s sister, who died in 2010. And finally, Platform Ballerinas encourages women to live however they want: “Dancing like she loves it with her best dress on/Spinning, jumping, messing up her hair, but it doesn’t matter.” Despite everything, the album does carry a fair amount of hope, as seen in I Went to Hell Last Night, a song which confirms that God is always around us, even in our darkest moments. – Nicolas Magenham

Tracklist:
1. MIKA – Tiny Love (04:04)
2. MIKA – Ice Cream (02:46)
3. MIKA – Dear Jealousy (03:47)
4. MIKA – Paloma (03:42)
5. MIKA – Sanremo (03:24)
6. MIKA – Tomorrow (03:49)
7. MIKA & Jack Savoretti – Ready To Call This Love (03:49)
8. MIKA – Cry (03:17)
9. MIKA – Platform Ballerinas (02:47)
10. MIKA – I Went to Hell Last Night (03:48)
11. MIKA – Blue (03:09)
12. MIKA – Stay High (03:30)
13. MIKA – Tiny Love Reprise (04:25)

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