Mika

Mika, the flamboyant boy once synonymous with jazz hands-friendly pop tunes, is back with The Origin Of Love, a new electro soft rock sound more in tune with tapping feet and bobbing heads.

Mika strays away from the octave-jumping vocals from past tracks like “Grace Kelly” or “Lollipop,” and instead treats the listener to a calmer, more controlled sound on The Origin Of Love.

The lyrics also show a more evolved Mika. The listener is introduced to an artist who has taken his life experiences and poured them into his music for his audience’s listening enjoyment.

Lyrics like “From the air I breathe to the love I need/Only thing I know is you’re the origin of love/From the god above to the one I love/Only thing that’s true, the origin is you” from the title track give the audience a glimpse of how love has matured Mika as an artist.

Mika’s fatal flaw on The Origin Of Love is his repetitiveness, and each track is littered with it. On the track “Love You When I’m Drunk,” he repeats the title phrase 10 times within the first minute. It’s enough to tempt the listener to hit the skip button and move on to the next track.

The Origin Of Love is a great example of how an artist can evolve and create an album that complements his style while still staying true to his identity. But without the pizazz of the past it falls just short of spectacular.