Brit Music Scene

Mika: New Album Inspired By Teenage Years

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 02:28 PM PDT

It seems like ages has passed since Mika took the world by storm with his debut album Life In Cartoon Motion, and to be fair it has been two years since it was released. 2007 was a huge year for Mika, with success on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, but then it all came to an abrupt end when the last single from the album, the double A-side of Relax, Take It Easy/Lollipop, was released in December of that year.

CD29950828@Mika at the Glastonbury Festival

Since then, Mika has been very quiet. But now he’s back, and preparing to release his as-yet-untitled second album. He released an EP this week called Songs For Sorrow which is meant to act as a bridge between the two albums, with the full LP due out in September.

Unlike some artists who release albums almost willy-nilly with little or no connection between them, Mika has stated that his second album is going to be a direct follow up to the first. He recently spoke to BBC Newsbeat about the nature of his new album, and how if the first album was him dealing with his childhood, this one deals with his teenage years.

“The first album dealt with my childhood. This album in a sense is kind of part two. I became fascinated with the idea that on the first record I referenced a lot of nursery rhymes and fairy tales.”

“When you’re a kid you just sing them and you love them and you’re put to sleep with them. But when you’re a teenager you read them again and you realize its all about babies dying and people chopping off each other’s body parts.”

“I think that is very much a sign of someone’s teenage years because in order to be truly joyful you have to let your barriers fall down. As we get older we construct those barriers a lot more solidly and it’s a lot harder to get rid of them.”

“So that kind of fragile no holds barred totally unselfconscious joy is very much something that was present in my teenage years.”

I assume this means there’ll be less cheese, less frivolity, and, dare I say it, less campness. I love the idea because it suggests an artist who’s growing in maturity and stature, changing from being all happiness and light to slightly moodier and dark.

However, I doubt the typical Mika-style will be dropped completely. Whatever Mika’s new album sounds like, it’s almost guaranteed to be a hit. Mika swept in like a breath of fresh air when he arrived on the scene and it’ll be interesting to see whether he can repeat the feat after 18 months out of the limelight.

[Photo Source: Newscom]

Post from: Brit Music Scene