REVIEW: From Under the Gun 26 September 2012

Hmm... well, this is a shame, because this is a US blog.

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REVIEW: Mika – The Origin of Love

September 26th, 2012 Grace Duffy

Artist: Mika

Album: The Origin of Love

Genre: Pop

Label: Casablanca (US), Island/Barclay/Universal (Europe)

It seems clichéd to describe Mika’s third album as mature, especially given that the latter is often a horrible euphemism for boring, but that’s exactly how The Origin of Love comes across. Stripped of many of the singer’s more flamboyant musical pyrotechnics, it’s incredible muted, largely underplayed, and enveloped in a dazzling aura of wonder and surprise. Albums that fixate on love tend to come in this pastel-coloured mould, sounding sweet and wholesome and enraptured with the twinkling magic of this new and wondrous sensation. It makes for pleasant listening – possibly even compelling listening if one is caught in the same throes of delight – but also for something that’s incredibly bland. The pristine sense of delight nurtured throughout this record is in keeping with its theme but it seems to neuter many of the effervescent tweaks that one has come to associate with Mika. There’s a sense of being permanently in some kind of delirious daze, dreamlike and joyous, which is all very enchanting but means The Origin of Love never actually comes alive.

There is a great deal of literal colour to this. Although the singer described it as “more simplistic” and “less layered” pop during its production, it’s arguable that there’s actually a more dizzying array of effects, instrumentals, and add-ons here than in much of his earlier work. The problem is that this does nothing to enliven it or inject the ruthless catchiness that permeates the likes of “Love Today” or “Kick Ass (We Are Young).” The first few songs are incredibly pretty and very enjoyable, but also somewhat disposable. “Origin of Love” is playful and endearing; “Lola” is sunny, heartfelt, and happy. “Stardust” has the same captivated air and is laden with hyperactive synth effects to evoke the cascading emotions. These are very pleasingly romantic pop songs, but I’m not sure there’s enough to really absorb or hold interest. By the time the artificial refrains of “Make You Happy” have faded out, there is a palpable sense that Mika needs to up his game.

Conversely however, and notwithstanding the above, The Origin of Love seems much more personal and from the heart and in that sense, may be more representative of Mika as an artist. Some of its songs are real standouts – sublime meditations on heart, memories, and experiences with organic instrumentation and a genuine air of poignancy. “Underwater” is led by a longing, driven piano line and suitably wistful vocals, which just about hold it together when it descends into a more overbearing chorus. The singer really hits his stride on “Heroes,” a soft and moving track that manages to err just on the right side of schmaltz. It’s neither formulaic nor predictable and features a rather hopeful twist on desperation. Mika’s vocals are exemplary throughout but it’s on tender, unsweetened tracks such as these that they’re really allowed to flourish. The fluffy enhancements of some of the other tracks seem to detract from his natural appeal as a singer, obscuring him in needlessly frothy detail. The Origin of Love also features his first French-language track, “Elle me dit” (a bonus track on the French version, though its Anglophone equivalent is included as “Emily”). This ties the record to his early life and influences in a manner that befits the album’s title, and is also one of the finest songs on here – a genuinely infectious, playful, fun-loving track with a killer chorus.

There are some experiments with guest vocals and sampling – “Step with Me” has a female accompaniment but is one slow-burning contemplative piece too many, while “Popular Song” samples the track “Popular” from Wicked (performed by Priscilla Renea) but moves far too slowly. The latter in particular misses the mischievous bounce of the original. On tracks such as these, it feels like things have been so finely polished that the little fleck of dust or dirt that would have given them an edge has been too thoroughly removed.

The Origin of Love is a good album, but for an artist as strapping and inventive as Mika it feels a little like a misstep. Exploring a more introspective and careful style is interesting for him and does provide the occasional dulcet reward, but too much life has been allowed to seep out of this record. It’s aesthetically lovely and his vocals are fantastic, but the overall result is disappointingly tame.

SCORE: 6/10

Review written by Grace Duffy

http://www.underthegunreview.net/2012/09/26/review-mika-the-origin-of-love/

Well, I what record she would rate as 10 if this one scores only 6 for her...

She has a good point on the 'less layered' comment coming from Mika earlier as that' s not what tbe record ended up like - only to its benefit though.

Anyway, even though she may find this record boring () , all in all, it is a good review and she seems to be familiar with Mika' earlier releases, too. Perhaps her feeling bored comes from somewhere else / different expectations. I'll link this to the critics reviews tomorrow: it is one of the few that talks about the record itself.

It's not the first review I've seen that basically came to the conclusion that it's a good record, but that they had expected more from Mika. And I must admit I understand what she means. I can actually put TOOL on as soft background music while talking to other people. With his previous records, that's pretty much impossible, regardless of the volume, simply because the music itself is so strong.

This album is amazing if you turn up the volume and let yourself be engulfed by it, but if you just put it and want to casually listen to it, you can. It doesn't grab you by the throat. And as a result, it's more likely to get 3 out of 5 stars rather than 1 out of 5 in some reviews and 5 out of 5 in others.

If we talk about scores, the second album actually received some mellow reception with average scores, unlike the first one. The first album did grab people' attention for sure. It was that different. A pop star can only arrive at the music scene once though, the rest are always comebacks . So I think it is the right direction to try to do something else rather than try to repeat the first album as there is no way he can. You can only step into the same river once.

How one feels about an album is rather subjective, of course, it may even change on a daily basis.

And I must admit I understand what she means. I can actually put TOOL on as soft background music while talking to other people. With his previous records, that's pretty much impossible, regardless of the volume, simply because the music itself is so strong.

 

This album is amazing if you turn up the volume and let yourself be engulfed by it, but if you just put it and want to casually listen to it, you can. It doesn't grab you by the throat. And as a result, it's more likely to get 3 out of 5 stars rather than 1 out of 5 in some reviews and 5 out of 5 in others.

Thanks for putting that into words - I'm still trying to figure out what the difference between TOOL and LICM+TBWKTM is (for me) and that's part of it.

What a load of rubbish. How can something be enveloped in a dazzling aura of wonder and surprise and a sentence later it's incredibly bland. Suzie she does not say it's boring but that it's mature. I guess the bland comment is close enough to boring but she's contradicting herself with her multiple descriptions of something that is not bland at all. This is why I have no respect for these reviewers. She could have given it a 1 or a 6 or a 9 and it still would have been a page full of the same nonsense.

The exact opposite dynamic is going on in a British review in another thread. The whole review is just slamming Mika and his career yet they give the album 4/5 stars. :doh:

What a load of rubbish. How can something be enveloped in a dazzling aura of wonder and surprise and a sentence later it's incredibly bland. Suzie she does not say it's boring but that it's mature. I guess the bland comment is close enough to boring but she's contradicting herself with her multiple descriptions of something that is not bland at all. This is why I have no respect for these reviewers. She could have given it a 1 or a 6 or a 9 and it still would have been a page full of the same nonsense.

 

The exact opposite dynamic is going on in a British review in another thread. The whole review is just slamming Mika and his career yet they give the album 4/5 stars. :doh:

OMG I was reading this review and from the get go i had this exact expression on my face No literally. She contradicts herself with every sentence and goes on too long with words that say nothing much I don't read music reviews but this one struck me as quite boring

What a load of rubbish. How can something be enveloped in a dazzling aura of wonder and surprise and a sentence later it's incredibly bland. Suzie she does not say it's boring but that it's mature. I guess the bland comment is close enough to boring but she's contradicting herself with her multiple descriptions of something that is not bland at all. This is why I have no respect for these reviewers. She could have given it a 1 or a 6 or a 9 and it still would have been a page full of the same nonsense.

 

The exact opposite dynamic is going on in a British review in another thread. The whole review is just slamming Mika and his career yet they give the album 4/5 stars. :doh:

I'll read this again later today. All I remember is that the score she gave was not justified or explained to me in her actual review. So I agree the score and what she wrote is rather contradictory.

I left a comment. T4P

There is a great deal of literal colour to this.

No there isn't