Album review: Mika blooms in French with Que ta Tête Fleurisse Toujours

It’s 16 years since Mika exploded onto the pop landscape with his diligently playful chart-topping debut Life In Cartoon Motion. He went on to release a string of albums – but his recent prominence is partly owed to a performance at the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony in France and to his hosting of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin.

Some of that Eurovision pizazz has rubbed off on the artist born Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr, whose latest LP – his first entirely in French – brims with Europop exuberance. 

That it isn’t in English might be off-putting to some – yet Que ta tête fleurisse toujours (“May Your Head Always Bloom”) is one of the catchiest things he’s ever done, as underscored from the start with the techno-Abba throb of opener 'Bougez'.

It’s a twinkle-toed scene-setter for a record which rarely allows the pace to drop. Mika dabbles with tasteful Euro-trance on Jane Birkin while a starry-eyed restlessness fuels Apocalypse Calypso.

Mika was born in Lebanon, was largely raised in Paris, and is at home singing in French. He has also had his ups and downs. The success of Life In Cartoon Motion was overwhelming, and for several years, he struggled to push forward with the second act of his career.

“When you tour as much as I do, the writer in you dies. My first album was massive. The second album was much harder to push. I promoted it in person,’ he said in 2012 when he sounded ready to throw in the towel. “It came at a price. I was spent. That shit doesn’t come for nothing.” 

But he seems to have come back around to the idea of being a pop star. He also embraced a variety of styles on the new project: 'Moi Andy et Paris', for instance, dabbles in glossy folk, while 'Touche Touche' is an enjoyably slick bopper. 

A solid return ends on a downbeat note with the plaintive 'Passager '– a reminder there’s more to Mika than pomp and ceremony.