Mika- Hyperlove

Albumreview by Jan Vranken

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MIKA Returns to Form with ‘Hyperlove’: A Psychedelic Pop Renaissance

The flamboyant pop visionary delivers his most ambitious work since 2007’s ‘Life in Cartoon Motion’, blending vintage analog warmth with futuristic electronic euphoria

Six years is a long time in pop music. When MIKA last released an English-language album in 2019, the world was a different place. But the Lebanese-British pop provocateur has used that time wisely, retreating to his piano, recruiting some of pop’s most experimental minds, and emerging with Hyperlove—an album that sounds like hijacking a Fire Island radio station in the year 2126, as co-producer Nick Littlemore aptly described it.

Hyperlove marks MIKA’s seventh studio album and his boldest artistic statement since his multi-platinum 2007 debut. After years of focusing on European markets—where hits like ‘Elle Me Dit’ dominated French charts and TV judging stints on X Factor Italia and The Voice Spain kept him in the spotlight—MIKA has orchestrated a triumphant return to his UK roots. The album arrives alongside sold-out arena shows at Manchester’s AO Arena and London’s OVO Arena Wembley, his largest headline performances to date.

The album’s genesis is pure MIKA: stream-of-consciousness piano compositions that reference everything from ancient Egyptian sun god Ra to Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s homoerotic cinema. Working alone initially at the Royal College of Music’s freeform approach, he captured what he calls euphoria in its rawest state. These multi-layered demos were then sent to Littlemore (Empire of the Sun, PNAU), who transformed them using exclusively vintage analog synthesizers and outboard gear—no digital plug-ins allowed.

The production philosophy pays immediate dividends. Opening track and title song ‘Hyperlove’ establishes the album’s sonic universe: warm analog synth textures colliding with MIKA’s theatrical vocals, creating an aesthetic that feels simultaneously retro and futuristic. The psychedelic edge that Littlemore brings—perhaps, as MIKA jokes, from all those consumed psychedelics—gives these songs a shimmering, almost hallucinogenic quality.

Lead single ‘Modern Times’ exemplifies this approach perfectly. MIKA describes it as a cathedral-like cry for faith and spirit, and indeed, the track soars with religious fervor, its chorus building to euphoric heights while vintage synthesizers bubble and swirl underneath. It’s the kind of song that recalls MIKA’s early hits like ‘Grace Kelly’ in its unabashed theatricality but feels more emotionally mature, grappling with time, mortality, and meaning.

Throughout Hyperlove, MIKA explores what he calls the electricity between the plus and minus of a charge—the tension between our increasingly digital world and the fragility of human emotion. This theme manifests beautifully in tracks like ‘Science Fiction Lover’ and ‘Spinning Out’, where robotic precision meets deeply human vulnerability. The production choices reinforce this dichotomy: every sound crafted from vintage analog equipment, yet the overall effect feels utterly contemporary.

Adding an unexpected cinematic dimension, cult filmmaker John Waters—the Pope of Trash himself—provides wry narration on several spoken-word interludes. Waters’ unmistakable voice elevates the album’s conceptual ambitions, his presence feeling both natural and subversive. When he reportedly told MIKA and his collaborators they were weird boys, it was the highest compliment imaginable.

Album closer ‘Immortal Love’ stands as perhaps the album’s emotional apex. Inspired partly by MIKA’s 15-year-old golden retriever, the track radiates warmth and nostalgia while maintaining the album’s sonic adventurousness. The chorus—It’s just immortal love / There’s just immortal love / We are immortal love—achieves instant classic status, joining the ranks of MIKA’s midtempo masterpieces like ‘Relax, Take It Easy’ and ‘Rain’. It’s the kind of song that feels timeless despite being recorded entirely with machines from decades past.

The album’s 15 tracks (including playful interludes) move effortlessly, drawing listeners into MIKA’s kaleidoscopic world without overstaying their welcome. Songs like ‘Excuses for Love’, ‘Dreams’, and ‘Nicotine’ showcase MIKA’s gift for melody—that transcendent quality that made him a star nearly two decades ago. The writing collaborations with Renaud Rebillaud, Matthieu Jomphe (who’s worked with Madonna and Ariana Grande), and Amy Wadge (Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ co-writer) add varied textures without diluting MIKA’s singular vision.

If there’s a criticism to be made, it’s that MIKA’s maximalist tendencies occasionally threaten to overwhelm. Some tracks could benefit from more breathing room amidst the sonic abundance. But this is also what makes MIKA unique in an era of restrained, algorithm-optimized pop—his refusal to play it safe, his commitment to excess as artistic statement.

Hyperlove succeeds because it embraces contradiction. It’s deeply personal yet universally resonant, meticulously crafted yet spontaneous-feeling, anchored in vintage technology yet sounding entirely modern. MIKA has always been pop’s most dangerous dreamer, and this album proves his imagination remains as vivid as ever. For fans who’ve followed his journey since ‘Grace Kelly’ dominated radio in 2007, Hyperlove feels like a homecoming. For newcomers, it’s a masterclass in how pop music can be both intellectually ambitious and pure emotional release.

In 2026, as pop increasingly gravitates toward understated coolness and algorithmic precision, MIKA offers an alternative vision: bold, heartfelt, theatrical, and uncompromisingly himself. Hyperlove isn’t just a comeback—it’s a statement that pop music still has room for maximalist dreamers who refuse to be put in a box, or as MIKA would say, who resist being in the box entirely. The analog renaissance has a new champion, and he’s wearing it well.

Standout Tracks: ‘Modern Times’, ‘Immortal Love’, ‘Science Fiction Lover’

(8/10) (Republic Records)