Mika’s “My Name Is Michael Holbrook” is shaping up to be his best album yet

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”.

Now, with its long-awaited successor My Name Is Michael Holbrook set to drop on 4th October, Mika is busy giving us one treat after the other in the form of singles and buzz tracks. The more we hear from the album, the clearer it becomes that My Name Is Michael Holbrook may just be the best record of Mika’s impressive career.

The first taste: “Ice Cream”

The aptly-titled “Ice Cream” gave us the first taste (see what I did there) of the album all the way back in May. With its fun lyrics, fluffy uptempo melodies and a colourful video, the song was ticking all the right boxes for a summer hit.

Hailed by many as a return to the sound of his early successes, “Ice Cream” certainly was a welcome comeback song, but it just didn’t quite have the same originality as other Mika gems like “Good Guys” or “Relax”. As such, it was a solid start to the album campaign and got us in the mood for new Mika music as it was supposed to. What we didn’t know at the time was that far greater things were still to come . . .

The game changer: “Tiny Love”

Greater things eventually came in August with the release of “Tiny Love”. Everything about this song screams career-defining masterpiece. The unusual structure, reminiscent of a certain Queen mega-hit. The smooth melodies and appropriately simple chorus hook. And, above all, the relatable lyrics.

You know Mika’s on to something amazing when the first lines you hear are the following examples of first-rate songwriting:

“It’s not a sunrise over canyons shaped like hearts
It isn’t bursting into song in Central Park
It’s not the outline of your face drawn in the stars
It’s a still-there-Monday-morning kind of love”

With “Tiny Love”, Mika laid the foundations for a brilliant album and shot our expectations all the way up into space. The question was: Would this be an odd-one-out in an otherwise merely ‘solid’ project? Or would it set the tone for the things to come?

The white hope: “Sanremo”

As it turned out, the latter was the case. On 6th September, Mika dropped “Sanremo” — and blew us away for a second time straight. This track couldn’t be more different from “Tiny Love”, but that’s precisely why it was so important for the album campaign: after its dramatic uber-ballad, My Name Is Michael Holbrook now also had its own subdued feelgood bop.

Sure, “Ice Cream” could already have counted as that, but in comparison “Sanremo” feels more original and laid-back. If “Tiny Love” wanted to make you fall madly in love, this follow-up makes you want to take your significant other and just run off to the next-best airport, get on the next-best plane to the next-best destination and make a sunny adventure out of it, no matter where you end up.

By now, we were really falling for My Name Is Michael Holbrook. But would the love story last, or would it turn into inspiration for Adele and Taylor Swift’s new records — a.k.a. would it die in the most dramatic fashion possible?

The confirmation: “Dear Jealousy”

Spoiler alert: The love story went on. Oh, how it went on.

“Dear Jealousy” clearly showed that Mika thought this album campaign through. After “Sanremo”, a song that arguable focuses on melodies and atmosphere rather than genius lyrics, “Dear Jealousy” reminded us all that Mika is first and foremost a brilliant songwriter.

“It’s coming to get us,” Mika proclaims in the chorus. “You better run away while it lets us. ‘Cause like it or not, every day we get a little better at jealousy.” There’s so much truth in those lines that you cannot help but jab an accusing finger at your reflection in the mirror. There are those select few songs that flawlessly hold up a mirror to society without coming across as patronizing or excepting the performer from the accusations. “Dear Jealousy” is one of them.

The icing on the cake: “Tomorrow”

It was pretty much confirmed by this stage that My Name Is Michael Holbrook would be quite fantastic. But then, only a week after “Dear Jealousy”, Mika hit us with “Tomorrow”.

The singer-songwriter had for a long time stayed silent about his sexuality. That is, until No Place Like Heaven directly addressed it on songs such as the aforementioned “Good Guys”, the equally genius “Good Wife”, and the title track. “Tomorrow” takes us back to these personal and relatable realms — or, at least, it can well be interpreted to do so.

“You and I, we’re really, really not so innocent,” Mika sings in the first verse. “Consequences won’t be easy. From here, every road leads to regrets.” In the chorus, however, the tone changes, and the song takes you from a dark, insecure place to the highest highs a relationship can reach — to those moments when the world stops to exist around you, and nothing else matters anymore:

“Kiss me in the backseat of my vintage Benz
Oh, who gives a sh*t about tomorrow?
When it comes, we can worry then
Oh, who gives a sh*t about tomorrow?”

There’s a feeling of ecstasy in those lines — and a feeling of profound sadness as well, given that the next day may well bring the end of the relationship. Happy and sad is a hard combination of emotions to achieve in a song, but when a singer and/or songwriter manages — as Mika does here — the effect is astounding.

Underlined by Mika’s strong vocals, “Tomorrow” is the kind of song that you usually only find once on an album. But here, in the company of “Tiny Love”, “Sanremo”, and “Dear Jealousy”, it’s just one heart-wrenching pop music gem among many.

In conclusion, . . .

. . . the verdict has been reached: 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.

My Name Is Michael Holbrook will be released on 4th October. Go get it!