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My Name Is Michael Holbrook - Mika's new album 2019


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As there's more and more info not related to a certain song but to the album itself, I'm opening a thread where you can share info about the album, chat about what you expect from it, and after its release on October 4, 2019, say what you think about it. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

So now, when we know "Tiny Love" and "Ice Cream" and we are waiting  for "Jealousy" let's rewatch some stories from January/May 2019 where Mika played us a few seconds of some songs  :lol3: And some stories about album preparation.

 

 

 

Is this "Jealousy" ?

 

Is "J" for Jack Savoretti?

 

1560351249_20190427.thumb.jpg.b63ed67de1f51a478f425489f04e7621.jpg

 

Last accord... of what?

 

 

 

"Ice Cream"!!!!

 

 

 

What this can be? (two videos)

 

 

 

 

 

 

well, it's not a song but we know this face from all Revelation Tour posters 

 

 

 

Famous sentence "My name is Michael"...

 

Be ready....

 

First "Ice Cream" teaser.

 

 

Photo session

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 25/08/2019 at 19:25, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

Alors maintenant, quand nous connaissons "Tiny Love" et "Ice Cream" et que nous attendons "Jealousy", revoyons quelques histoires de janvier / mai 2019 où Mika nous a joué quelques secondes de chansons   : lol3: et quelques histoires de préparation d'albums.

 

 

 

Est-ce que c'est la "jalousie"?

 

 

Well seen for the historical Anna :thumb_yello:
Maybe Jalousy, that's what we seem to hear !!
But Mika announced SANREMO for the next single, we'll see (we'll hear ...)  :naughty:

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Gemz said:

Do you guys think there will be a deluxe or special edition of this album? Looking at his other albums he always has more than one version with more tracks.

Yes but I also have the feeling that deluxe editions aren't a thing anymore as unfortunetaly most people only stream their music... Maybe he will do a special edition later, a repack like the special edition of NPIH. 

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On 9/5/2019 at 7:53 PM, Gemz said:

Do you guys think there will be a deluxe or special edition of this album? Looking at his other albums he always has more than one version with more tracks.

I Was Just going to ask the same. I Want a deluxe version :( 

I Want to buy physical copy... 

 

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On 9/5/2019 at 6:53 PM, Gemz said:

Do you guys think there will be a deluxe or special edition of this album? Looking at his other albums he always has more than one version with more tracks.

 

I hope so! I don't think they just focus on streaming, he knows that his fans buy these deluxe versions. After all they're even releasing the album as Vinyl, and that's also a niche product.

I just think they'll wait until everyone has preordered their regular album download - then the fans can buy the deluxe in addition. :mf_rosetinted:

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An interesting interview where he speaks about Sanremo and Blue but also some new songs like "Paloma...":

 

https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/entertainment/music//281448#.XXLrOpLXWkA

 

From, "San Remo" not being about San Remo at all, but being about growing up gay and being a 13-year-old gay walking around the streets of San Remo and feeling incredibly intimidated by every other masculine presence that seems more beautiful, more slim, more heterosexual — just cooler and better than you'd think you could ever be. That's what that song is about. It's not obvious but it's in there.

To a song like, "Paloma..." It's about my sister and it's about the night that I found her on railings having fallen from the window of the fourth floor of her apartment... And I'm standing barefoot in my boxers. And she's dying on the railing. And I'm looking at her, at that situation... when I started writing about it... there was beauty in the fact that I saw her there in the most grotesque situation... She survived, that's why it's easier to see the beauty in it. Still, doing a process like this and not being Mika was very important. Being Michael Holbrook, this dude who is just writing songs about himself, about his life at the moment, his childhood, the women in his family — and about the fear of some of the future... and putting all of that insecurity into something still attractive, bearable and comforting and that's what the process of writing this record was.

 

My favorite song is "Blue," because it is the most romantic song. It challenges your preconceptions. And it plays on so many different levels. Blue is about gender, sexuality. It's about the idea that you're only okay if you're so ####ing upbeat and smiling at everyone all the time. When sometimes, actually, that's the biggest sign that you're ####ed up. And it's a love letter to the people that I love in saying that, from the deepest part of my heart, I will always love that blue in you because within that blue is the deepest color and the deepest version of you... It starts off as one thing and ends up as something completely different. And that kind of pirouette is really what makes me happy as a writer and its fun to sing because you're going on a journey.

 

They also mention two songs called "Tomorrow" and "Platform Ballerinas"...

 

EDGE: I always have a cherished MIKA song off each album that I play over and over like "Billy Brown," "Blame it on the Girls," etc. On this one I have "Tomorrow" and "Platform Ballerinas." Do you have a favorite?
 

(Mika talks about Blue here)

 

EDGE: You write in the paradoxes, in the contradictions, in the multiple meanings. One of the things I love so much about "Tomorrow" is I felt it could be about a one night hook up or about two people who've been dating for a while...

MIKA: Or if you analyze it even closer it could be about a one-night hookup getting back together with someone that you've been with for a very long time but you swore you would never be with again.

 

(Ok, it seems that Tomorrow won't be really relatable for me... :naughty:)

Edited by giraffeandy
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So how many tracks do we already know by name? Ice Cream, Tiny Love, Sanremo + Jealousy, Blue, Paloma..., Tomorrow, Platform Ballerinas (if those are the real titles) Anything else I've missed? 

Edited by giraffeandy
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This radio interview is very interesting, all of MFCers should listen / read it.

 

note*

Bonaventure_Cemetery

Mika talks about Booba https://www.instagram.com/p/Byz88_tgJT1/

 

 

20 hours ago, Kumazzz said:

Chérie FM

https://www.cheriefm.be/articles/hello-cherie-avec-mika.html

6 September 2019

 

📻AUDIO MP3 file ( 32.03mn / 44MB ) 2019.09.06 Chérie FM HELLO CHÉRIE avec Mika.mp3

 

:uk: Translation by @crazyaboutmika

Question: Mika welcome to Chérie FM. How are you?


Mika: I'm fine,  thank you. It's a big promo day today. You're in a promo period right now.
Mika: Big week,  big month. [He makes a mistake and said "big me"  and he says he likes it and laughs]

 

Question: Do do you like doing promo?

 

Mika: When there's an album I want to defend and a single I like,  yes and I know it may seem strange and you can say ah really you have had albums that...so I like all my albums but for some you tell myself ok I'm defending it because there's really room for lots of people and now I feel as if the house I have built can host many people.

 

Question: So you are proud and rather happy and eager to talk about it everywhere.


Mika: Yes I can't wait. I can't wait,  It's like I prepared a magic box and I want to take everything out of the box. And also for the concerts,  for everything. And I think Ice Cream is a good start because it is joyful and festive but still you feel ,  it shows that I'm pushing myself,  that I'm provoking even myself. It's provoking but not for someone else,  it's almost,  it's highly provoking.

 

Question: You wrote the album during two years. During those two years what inspired you? Was it your moods? Was it your personal life? Was it what you saw around you?

 

Mika: That's my life. And that's my family. And that's my friends. That's really my life in all senses that inspired my album. There are very painful stories. That's my mother. That's my sister. That's the fact that I have always had a very sane relationship with my father,  but my father it's like he doesn't exist because I never talk about him. I,  I don't know his story. It was always that way and I don't know why. This,  this album and even its title,  my name is Michael Holbrook,  which is a name that I share with my father,  because I am junior and he is senior,  well it is obvious that I try to recreate links,  to heal things and also make a sort of evaluation to allow me to go on with my personal life and in my career,  for the next chapter,  that's really what happened. It's not exagerated. And I knew I needed to do it. And that'a why it took four years between this album and the previous one.


🎵Ice cream🎵


Question: You were born in Lebanon and your mother is Lebanese. Does that mean you went back there for example?


Mika: No I didn't go back there. In order to discover who I am,  I didn't travel to places,  except that the album was born in Savana,  Georgia in a cemetery. I did a road trip to discover where my father's family comes from,  a family I ignored everything about during all my life. It took me to Savana Georgia, and in Savana Georgia,  I went to the cemetary of Bonne Aventure,  the older cemetary of north America, apart, apart from the first native cemeteries in north America,  the American Indians. So I have just this place,  this cemetery dedicated to all my ancestors Penniman. It was very strange to see this story which doesn't belong to me at all,  but at the same time it belongs to me. All men are called either Elim Frederik or Richard or Michael Penniman or Holbrook. I saw all those Michael,  all those Holbrook. I saw all that,  the south of the United States,  those fields,  this strange and dark story,  and difficult and this is part of me,  really? And there I told myself: ok,  I'll see who I am. And after that,  I went back to my family,  in the living room,  in our  stories,  in things that were hidden during years,  in the things we avoid talking about,  the things that even my sister Paloma never wanted to say,  I put them into a song and I went to see her with a song and I said: there I said it,  you didn't do it,  I couldn't do it,  now we changed something painful like the accident she had which was very serious and the circumstances,  well look Paloma,  now you mustn't be afraid because it became something beautiful,  instead of being only something that frightens us or makes us sad.

 

Question: How did she react?


Mika: Err. Terrible. Bad.

 

Question: She didn't want the song to be released?


Mika:  She...I have never seen someone...she was frozen...she didn't move...but,  but that's the worst reaction you can get. Because she did nothing. And err,  she still doesn't talk about it. After she got out of the car,  immediately we talked about something else,  I don't know the chicken that was on the grill at my aunt's house,  something trivial,  and we didn't talk about it. And she's working with me,  I talked to her this morning,  she mostly works on the promo,  and for now,  we'll see...it's an album which is really very important,  which is very melodic,  you'll see why when you will hear it but,  it conveys lots of things but also if you understand that this album is an album,  I am living with its consequences,  I'll live it one step at a time,  for many reasons I will explain to you later,  but not right now. And so it is an album with lots,  lots of joy and with such a deep sadness that I can't explain it now.


🎵Tiny Love🎵


Question: Correct me if I'm wrong,  but when you did your musical studies in London,  you didn't continue till the end.

 

Mika: No,  I was in the conservatory,  but I realized I didn't really need to continue till the end because I wasn't,  as an adult,  I didn't have the voice it took to sing classical music,  I mean opera. I was studying classical music,  classical singing,  as a baritone and I knew there were people around me that were more talented so I told myself if I can't sing Mozart at the level my fellow students do,  then I will sing Mika, I just need find songs so I'm going to write my own songs.


Question: Otherwise would you have liked to sing opera?


Mika: I would have liked to but the truth is different you know. Do you know that at the conservatory,  I was at the Royal conservatory in London,  there were so many people studying in my class and very few actually work in music today. It is so difficult. Everyday there were people crying in the class.  I mean everyday. I think what helped me is that I hadn't waited for my diploma,  for me this diploma wasn't compulsary,  it was not my goal. In my case,  it was only the environment I wanted around me and so I fought to have professional opportunities even before the diploma. And this is what saved me. Because I started working at a very young age. My first job was at the Royal opera house;  I was eight and I never stopped. I did commercials,  west-end,  musicals,  ? and ? then Strauss,  Ravel,  Schubert. I did all the jobs I could find,  anything. And my mother used to train me,  she used to train me four hours a day and we used to sleep in the Toyota Previa in the van. That way when my mother called and they said we need a singer,  but a local one because we don't have money to pay for hotel rooms and transportation and my mother would say: no, but no,  it's ok, it's ok,  we don't need transportation,  we don't need an hotel,  so we drove there and we slept outside inside the car.

 

Question: Where does that come from? Is that because you loved music since you were very little,  because you felt it was part of you or was it also a bit your mum's dream too?

 

Mika: I loved music. That's all I did naturally. I got kicked out of school. My mother looked at me and she said: this one if we don't totally go into it,  he'll do nothing. he won't do anything,  that's what she used to tell me. And she was right. Because I am an extremely ambitious person,  but also very lazy. In everyday life. But when it comes to work and music,  laziness doesn't exist.

 

Question: It's wonderful to have a mum like that.


Mika: Yes, but it is also very complicated. And I'm sure there are lots of mums who are listening,  who are such mums and lots of people who are listening who have such mums or such dads,  and,  and they will agree with me. It is,  if you have a parent like that,  you know it is complicated to deal with. You know it's difficult to manage,  but it is also a rich relationship with huge benefits because it can provoke lots of things,  but if you are such a parent,  you know it is very hard. I think,  I can imagine that my mother,  she was like that with me during four hours and I was seing her like a kind of,  she was terrifying me to encourage me to do that,  but I never thought of what she did once she got into her bedroom and she got in front of her mirror. And now I am 35 years old and I think about that and I tell myself: Yeah it must have been complicated for her. It was hard for me but worst for her.


🎵Relax🎵


Question: If we speak about the show,  The Voice,  well that's my point of view,  but I think that when you give your opinion about an artist,  the first time you hear them sing is that you are always totally right. You get what's essential from what you see and you know how to get them to progress. How do you do that? Is is because you are so familiar with working on music or is it also something totally instinctive for you?

Do you hear what's important right away?


Mika:  I don't know. Because I don't listen that much. I,  I,  the way I react in life for everything ,  it's more like,  I don't listen that much to words,  I always try to understand what is not put into words,  what is not sung and I think this is singing,  true singing is what is more subtle,  what is not not said,  the voice when it is singing and it is not a syllable,  it's not a word,  it's just a noise,  that's for me the moat expressive part of the voice. And those are the parts you need to listen to. And if you only listen to that,  that is where the truth is. And the behavior,  the choice of clothing. I know that and I'm telling you I was very very little amazed during all the years I did The Voice with differences because for me the voice and the person often fit together and yeah I don't know why. I think it is that way. The voice says a lot about a person.

 

Question: The voice,  the personal identity; it's as if when you hear the voice you already know more or less the personal identity.

 

Mika: Yes. And as I am someone who likes transformation,  err,  yeah,  there's nothing better than someone who gets on stage dressed in a very simple way,  but who is incredibly talented. I meant in an unconscious way,  not in a simple way. For example,  I always remember Kendji Girac. So Kendji was on the stage and he was very unconscious of what he had. He had,  he was totally unaware of his energy which was very masculine,  very strong,  and err,  I think that's the reason why he is surviving now. Because he has this strengh in him. Many people said: it will be one song and then we"ll see but there is something intriguing,  something interesting and I heard it only in his voice so I turned around and I told myself: ok he is good looking,  and it's going to work. I know it. I'm sure about it   I had seen it at once,  I was the only one who had turned around. I had heard this,  I don't know,  emotion in his voice. And his unawareness of it. But that's the reason why I like all sorts of music. Recently Booba was amazed as I had said he was one of my favorite artists live on stage. Because he's got that thing too. I don't know if you know Booba that much but what he does is very emotional, very strong. Johnny Halliday had that thing,  this emotion in his voice,  and I don't know. People often mention artists who are committed,  as for me I like emotional artists,  emotional voices.


🎵Kendji song🎵


Question: So on this album there is Ice Cream which is the first song you released. It is a sensual pop song with inspirations as you said from Prince and in particular George Michael. On the album did you also found inspiration in artists you like or will there be other influences?


Mika: Yeah,  it's an album dedicated to what I like and people I like. So there are songs about,  one song is about a little place in Italy which is part of,  of my life,  a very little place which is part of my memories. So it's like a postcard,  a love letter to this place. Then there's a love letter to sadness. There's another song that is an open letter to jealousy. There's another song which is an open letter to my mother,  another to my father,  that's how it is. There's a letter to sensuality,  sex and fun that can be associated to it and that's Ice Cream. There's,  there's,  that's how I built my album

 

Question: The stage. Are you thinking about it?


Mika: I'm building it,  not thinking about it, we're building a new show. My aim is that once you're in,  your mouth is open with surprise when you look at the stage and feel the energy. I want a concert inspired by the 90's as if it were a show really in the 90's; sensual,  serious,  fun,  moving,  an explosion that lasts an hour and fourty minutes and it's over. What made me want to do music was watching Prince's shows when I was young,  TV shows,  Michael Jackson shows,  on TV.  I remember,  we used to move the TV to the dining room to watch those shows live. Those shows were truly great with great great artists who knew how to do the show.

 

Question: When is the first date of your tour?


Mika: The first date is in the United States. No one knows it yet but I can tell you,  it starts with New York. It will go everywhere but it gets to Belgium on December 14th.

 

Question: Short question; your favorite clothes?
Mika: err


Question: Well the clothes you like to wear best? That you like to wear because  you feel comfortable in them?
Mika: I don't like jeans. I wear them a bit,  but not much. I don't like to wear them because jeans I don't know,  they...I'm looking at your pants...

 

Girl: Am I wearing jeans? No I'm lucky.
 

Mika: My favorite clothes? Ah my pajamas.  I have a huge collection of pajamas.

 

Girl: Is it true?


Mika: Yeah. And strangely I had started this thing and recently I found out my grand father also had a huge collection of pajamas too.
So maybe it is in my DNA.

 

Girl: That's it. It's genetic.


Mika: Yeah.


🎵Ice Cream🎵

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HELLO CHÉRIE avec Mika

 

Cette semaine, c’est Mika qui vous réveille. Alors prêt·e pour une rentrée très pop ?
Aaaah Mika, avec sa chanson qui sent bon l’été… on a un peu du mal à se dire qu’il faut se remettre dans le bain. Heureusement, cette semaine, il nous réveille avec de la bonne humeur et des chansons très pop.

 

De retour avec « My real name is Michael Holbrook », il nous parle de ses ancêtres, de tronçonneuses et de cuisine. Un chouette programme à découvrir toute la semaine.
Envie de (re)découvrir le podcast de sa semaine sur Chérie FM ?

 

Podcast-28176.thumb.jpg.f2c4f8bc9c6b6e396d7c696afd06aa68.jpg

 

57032.thumb.jpg.b6b8fa9192381d0663e4e1a15b500fbf.jpg

 

70180867_2357313831049980_5165561998737408000_o.thumb.jpg.2a452b8e7ae1678f12053370827f40f7.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Regarding the deluxe version, I was searching on Amazon.de for the physical copy because I'll probably order it there and I saw they recently added another version with a different ASIN, I hope it's a deluxe version but it also could be just an import (a French/Italian edition?). However, probably there are more editions of the album after all. :)

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On 9/10/2019 at 6:21 AM, giraffeandy said:

Regarding the deluxe version, I was searching on Amazon.de for the physical copy because I'll probably order it there and I saw they recently added another version with a different ASIN, I hope it's a deluxe version but it also could be just an import (a French/Italian edition?). However, probably there are more editions of the album after all. :)

Fingers crossed!  I keep looking out for any announcement about a deluxe/bonus tracks version.  He has been releasing a bunch of collaborations recently too...

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We have to wait the album till October.

 

Tracklist

3 minutes ago, Kumazzz said:

Final tracklist! I know you must have a lot of questions. I'll tell you more about it soon. M x

  1. Tiny Love
  2. Ice Cream
  3. Dear Jealousy
  4. Paloma
  5. Sanremo
  6. Tomorrow
  7. Ready to call this love
  8. Cry
  9. Platform Ballerinas
  10. I Went To Hell Last Night
  11. Blue
  12. Stay High
  13. Tiny Love Reprise

EERwFcYWsAAuujG.thumb.jpg.84cea32b7c15ecb2b0e9d612a18f9425.jpg

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Mikasister said:

 

Hmm curious to know which is the song that talks about fans  :fisch:

 

I hope it's not "I went to hell last night"! :lmfao:

Maybe the one about Jealousy... We might know at midnight - if the lyrics are easier to interpret than for Tiny Love :mf_rosetinted:

It's a long time since Xmas though, he might've thrown it out. :dunno:

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