camille*

Emily is on the first CD 1. Origin Of Love 2. Lola 3. Stardust 4. Make You Happy 5. Underwater 6. Overrated 7. Kids 8. Love You When I'm Drunk 9. Step With Me 10. Popular Song 11. Emily 12. Heroes 13. Celebrate 14. Elle Me Dit

Just received an email from Mikasounds, tracklist for French 2nd CD: CD 2 1. Karen 2. L'Amour Dans Le Mauvais Temps 3. Un Soleil Mal Luné 4. Make You Happy (Cherokee Remix) 5. Celebrate (Robbie Rivera Remix) 6. Elle Me Dit (BeataCue Remix) 7. Make You Happy (LA Edit) 8. Tah Dah EMD is on the 1st CD

I don't see anything pretentious in this cover, for me above all it evokes simplicity (black and white, no t-shirt, not full-face) and through this, sincerity. And some kind of modesty (not sure if that's the word, I mean 'pudeur' in French) And the golden drops could be an allusion to creativity. (The only thing I don't really like is the title; especially the 'by Mika' ) I agree with all those who are saying it's a good step forward for Mika; he needed a change. Well he didn't 'need' it but it's normal to evolve, and for me this cover represents quite well the evolution we've witnessed recently. I remember back in 2009 when TBWKTM was released my mum told me 'why did he use the same cover as his previous album??'. She couldn't tell the difference. I really couldn't imagine him coming back again with the same kind of artwork. And maybe the album will gain more interest with this cover too. I'm surprised by the release date for the UK. If it had to be a different one than for the rest of the world I would have thought it would be released earlier not later! What is their goal? (I'm not ironic, I'm really asking why you think they do that; I don't follow any other musician as closely as Mika, I've no idea how it's generally dealt with)

Not so joyful then... lol

I don't think it looks like the cover of a joyful album either, but I like thinking that the golden thingies are the thoughts Mika has/the songs coming out of his mind.. and they are golden so there must be some joy somewhere

Label Barclay in France tweeted this cover too. They were asked if there was a problem with the 'cutting' at the bottom and they answered 'precisely not'

So what site(s) exactly is this picture from? I was a bit surprised when I saw the picture, because that was not what I expected after what Mika said in the interview. Before the interview I had no idea and expectation at all but he made me think about something else so in a way I'm disappointed even though I do like this one. Oh I forgot to add; I like the picture in itself but I don't like the text, I was hoping he would use that nice handwriting we've been seeing for a while now

Really? When I hear I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight for real I sing 'Relax, take it eaaaaasy' over it But nothing more than this it's true. I can't listen to more than 10 seconds of that MTV song

Finally we can read this article, thanks I didn't think it would be such a long and serious article. I like how sincere it sounds. I'm very happy for Mika and it's getting really harder everyday to wait for the new album! Just an almost off topic question; how do you think he knows that 'it was the American fans who responded most favorably to the MYH clip'? Youtube comments?

I haven't seen this video posted yet, this is an interview from yesterday in Montreal http://montreal.rougefm.ca/webtele.aspx?bcpid=1106227635001&bckey=AQ~~,AAABAeI3Ehk~,zwQlTVNi20D6tO5GEjqB8IE2IWbN9SUu&bclid=1106330649001&bctid=1791069679001 Interviewer: Hello Mika M : Hello I: How are you? M : Very well. I'm examining your questions, and also an interview for Katy Perry, an interview for Lady Gaga, Ellie Goulding, Madonna... Not bad! I feel very exclusive. I: You are exclusive, my dear, for sure. Mika, first of all, happy birthday, in advance. M: Yes my birthday is on Saturday. I: Are you going to celebrate in Quebec? M: No I'm going back to London for a radio show tomorrow morning at 8. I: Is there a particular place where you can switch off a bit? M: I like mountains. I like climbing. How do you say 'mountaineering'? I: Hiking? M: No no, more extreme than that! I: How was the show yesterday at St Jean sur Richelieu? M: It was cool, I didn't know what to expect, it was big. Have you ever been there? I: Yes I was there. M: Ah you were there yesterday! Cool. With all the balloons flying up, it's quite magical, surreal. I: Let's talk about TOOL, and the first single Celebrate, it's your third album... M: It's my third one. I really had fun making it. It was a really important album for me. I thought, well, I want to find again exactly why I 'm doing what I'm doing. I'm lucky because I don't make pop music with an obvious or very commercial format but I have the freedom to make the music I love. I: What makes a good pop song according to Mika? M : It must be subversive. It must have a side in which the melody.. It's the melody that opens the door and after that there are a lot of subversive allusions. I have stolen your clipboard! You are doing your interview without your clipboard! See, you don't need your clipboard. I: You've just spent a few days in Quebec, you performed here yesterday, what is the best thing for you in Quebec? M : We eat very well. We eat really well. Don't you think so? I: Your favourite grub here? M: I don't know, a bit of everything. I remember, the first time I was here working on the album, I was here during the 'Nuit Blanche', I went to the Old Town waiting for my session to start in the studio and they were selling sausages on a stick and you had to put it in the fire; I loved that. I: Thanks a lot Mika, what are your projects now, I know that you continue touring M: There's the tour, there are videos, we are filming short films, not like music videos because I'm not in them, it's less commercial. We made one for MYH in Montreal. It's the tour, the new album, it's life. I: Thank you very much Mika, and happy birthday again. M: It's very nice. 29 years old. Nearly an old man. How old are you? I : 36. M : 36? It's good, you look well. Not bad, well done.

I found this on Twitter Alexandre Champagne ‏@AlexChampagne J'ai interviewé @mikasounds ce matin pour #districtv, très belle rencontre et quel chic type agréable et intelligent. Merci Mika (I interviewed @mikasounds this morning for #districtv, very nice meeting and what a pleasant and clever chap. Thanks Mika) I asked him if he was becoming a fan already and if the interview would be available online, he said yes to both

Very happy for all people who were at the gig yesterday, first time or not I'm looking forward to reading more reports! (Loved yours Roxane BTW )

Shouldn't we dread Droopsy or Blue Sky though?

I saw the video for the first time on TV this afternoon Got so excited I even took some pics (pretty useless I admit ) EDIT : Well, I posted some pics but I can't see them anymore now!? Nevermind, you all know the vid anyway

Thank you Treasa! That was my only gig this Summer, but what a gig! We have the full recording of this gig from Yuna, here's the setlist Big Girl Relax Blame It On The Girls Billy Brown Blue Eyes Stuck In The Middle Lola Rain Lollipop Underwater Happy Ending Celebrate Elle Me Dit Karen Love Today We Are Golden The Origin of Love Grace Kelly

Thanks for the video It's in the titles in France today that the Catholic Church is planning to gather people against gay marriage tomorrow for the Assumption. Just when things are starting to move politically speaking and that opinions in favour of gay marriage are increasing. Sad world

He has been talking about a double CD for France for a while I think.. I can't remember when and where but in my mind I always thought there could be 2 CDs in France (the second one being bonuses in French)

I read it Ingie and enjoyed it very much Couldn't stop reading until the end which is a good point isn't it? I didn't know you write stories, but then again I don't know you very well. Something in Mika's latest French interview (MSN one) reminded me of your story when he said something along the lines of 'I talk about love so I talk about life. You can't talk about love in a clever way if you don't talk about life'

Awww amazing report of both the gig and your surprise encounter You are very lucky! Thank you very much for sharing this with us

Thanks for letting us know! Glad you had a good time, I'll wait for your report patiently

All the French articles about the new video say the release date is 17th of September, same thing on Amazon.fr http://www.amazon.fr/Origin-Love-Deluxe-CD/dp/B008PUXMS4/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1344680078&sr=1-1 EDIT : TOOL is already #86 on French Amazon without being released

Translation of the French interview You are of a multicultural origin, so who will you support at the Olympics? For me it's a bit difficult to decide who I'll support at the Olympics simply because I come from Lebanon, I grew up in France and also in England and so... I don't know, generally for football I'm for France I have to say, but also now I think that the Olympics are in London, they spent plenty of money and I think that for the atmosphere and maybe even for economy it would be very good if they win some medals. So I'll say I support Great Britain. I don't even know if Lebanese have an Olympic team... it's not very good not to know but I don't know at the moment. I'm cheering for GB. You live in London. Do you plan to go and watch the Olympics? I think I'm going to go watch diving ( he uses a non existent French word for diving, that made me laugh) simply because I love the Centre that was made by the architect Zaha Hadid, I think it's beautiful. And also I'll perform in the middle of the Olympics I think during the half time of a volleyball tournament. It's in the sand in the middle of the match and we'll perform for 5 or 6 minutes, just in front of Buckingham Palace, it's going to be great. There will be dancers and stuff like that. It's a surprise for people who will be at the match. Why did you choose to make a whole album about love? My new album is called The Origin of Love and it started with this song called The Origin of Love and I don't know it's like a personal diary on a 12 months period. And during this time I realised that basically all songs we write in our lifetime are about desire or love. Most of them. In one way or another. And I thought why not write an album about love with 12 songs but love songs that are completely different and completely out of the normal sound from love songs. EMD for example is a love song about love between the mother and her son and Celebrate talks about love, about a break up but they are not piano ballads with the 80s style. Not at all. I also liked the idea that the title was a bit like an old book, a classic, and I always like album titles that are more like a movie title, something from cinema, not necessarily like an album. And so I always choose titles that evoke a lot of images and a whole visual world. And while talking about love, the truth is I actually talk about life. About a bit of everything. Because we can't talk about love in a clever way if we are not talking about life.