As expected, Mika’s new album “The Boy Who Knew Too Much” is a smörgåsbord of infectiously catchy pop tunes that will instantly get stuck in your head. Surprisingly, though, the singer shows much more versatility on this album, switching up his style from song to song.

When Mika’s debut album was released in 2007, it sold 5.6 million copies worldwide but failed to make an impact here in the United States. With this album, Mika has made it his mission to cross over to the American market, and I think that he might be able to accomplish just that.

By far, the songs that sound the most like Mika are the upbeat, musical-esque pop songs. The first single, “We Are Golden,” is a perfect example of that. With its chorus of happy background singers and its inspirational message of “We are who we are,” the song would seem to fit more in a Broadway show than a modern pop album. That said, Mika shines on these songs and is able to make them both catchy and modern. “Good Gone Girl,” another example of this musical style, is full of fun accordions and varying singing styles that again would fit perfectly in a musical.

“I See You,” on the other hand, airs more on the epic-piano-ballad side. This song about loving someone from afar uses Mika’s voice beautifully. Although his voice sometimes sounds strained on slower parts of songs (as in “Dr. John”), it sounds amazing on “I See You” and fits the tone and mood of the song. The same is true of “By the Time,” which includes a backup a cappella chorus. This song also demonstrates Mika’s excellent songwriting ability (along with Imogen Heap): “By the time I’m dreaming/ And you’ve crept out on me sleeping/ Tell me how I’m supposed to care.”

Mika switches up his style again on the album’s final song “Pick Up Off the Floor.” On this other inspirational song, he sings over a swingy, jazzy piano as he warns a girl not to let a boy get her down. He also goes more electronic on songs like “Rain” and “One Foot Boy.” The latter song is a fun, poppy song that seems to be about nothing but is probably about something deep.

“The Boy Who Knew Too Much” is an excellent example of a quality pop record. It never tries to sound too serious and is really just a fun listening experience. Mika is able to serve up an album that not only gets people out of their seats and singing along but also offers a variety of songs that can appeal to anybody, even us stuck-up American listeners.

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Rating: 4/5
For fans of: Lily Allen, Paulo Nutini, Sliimy
Tracks to download: ‘We Are Golden,’ ‘I See You,’ ‘Good Gone Girl,’ ‘By the Time’

1 Comments

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  On September 26, 2009 at 7:46 pm Cary said

  Should be one of the best albums of the year!

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Tags: album review, Mika

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Cadenza, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through this feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.