If you have one of the five million copies sold of Mika’s dayglo debut, Life in Cartoon Motion, chances are you’ll be up for more of the same from the Royal College of Music graduate with a penchant for kiddish Freddie Mercury/Elton John impressions and idiot savant choruses.
Of course, he’ll tell you this is a more grown-up record than the last one – and tracks like Touches You certainly reach for an emotional level that the panto-pop of his first outing so sorely lacked – but the chronic obsession with chucking the kitchen sink at every song is at odds with such claims.
With its lush string arrangements from Arcade Fire collaborator Owen Pallet, Rain is more successful, although the brainless twiddles of We Are Golden are far more typical.
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