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Mika - 'Relax (Take It Easy)'

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Fraser McAlpine | 10:47 UK time, Friday, 21 December 2007

MikaMika, Mika, Mika. I understand how when you released this marvellous slice of retroid pop and no one paid a blind bit of notice, you might be driven to try a 'new direction' but that was really no excuse for the whole Grace Kelly-Love Today-Big Girls-Lollipop horror that occurred, subsequently leaving your two finest moments (ie: 'Happy Ending' and this) to be chucked away at the end of the album's promotional schedule.

I'm also sure this used to have a better video, from its first release. Nowadays it's one of those gritty, camera phone-esque jobs, complete with footage of "Gosh Aren't I Successful?" massive live performances interspersed with fancy doodles, like 'Get Together' by Madonna, only, err, without Madonna.

Never mind, though, because it's Mika on top form, which is to say it's a stonking pop melody with a bit of mournful sadness so he can just tone down all that "EVERYONE IS HAVING SO MUCH FUN HERE AREN'T THEY" holiday camp business and get on with singing a song. It's not even all in falsetto.

Admittedly, a lot of the brilliance of this song has to be attributed to the fact it nicks its melody from '(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight' by the illustrious Cutting Crew, one of those big late eighties hair ballads about feeling funny feelings for someone:

But hell, it's been twenty years since that was first released and I know I normally get all up in bands' collective faces for not bothering to write their own tune but I believe this is actually listed as a proper sample, so it narrowly escapes judgement. This keeps a lot of the sentiment of the Cutting Crew song, insofar as there's a certain edginess and desire in there and the 'us against the world' sentiment has a lot of the power ballad heritage in it. It sounds like streetlights whipping past a moving train in the dark, like rain lashing the windows and like doing something really quite reckless, with just enough determination to make it work out.

The lyrics are actually quite marvellous, too - maybe it's just that I spend a lot of time on long-distance train journeys and live at the end of a very long and hopeless line but the travelling imagery fits nicely with the kinesis of the song, xylophones propelling it along, scratchy guitar parts screech by and on we plunge, straight into the night.

It's a moving song, not in the sense that it makes you well up with tears but in the sense that it's going somewhere, without actually getting there within the song itself; it's the journey, not the arrival. At this time of year, that's exactly the sort of song that fits- all across the country, people are wrapping themselves up and stomping out to various transports to begin the long trek to wherever they have Christmas and there's something wintry about a bit of xylophone that can't help but warm the cockles as houses plummet to sub-zero temperatures and that seasonal madness takes over that sees you up at 2am, making mince pies.

In other words; if this didn't do it the first time, it blimmin well deserves to this go, it's perfect for the time of year and remains, in my eyes at least, the entire point of Mika.

Four starsDownload: Out now
CD Released: December 31st

(Hazel Robinson)

Comments

  1. At 11:01 AM on 21 Dec 2007, kate wrote:

    Is this only just out in England? Its been out in Europe forever, big hit before Grace Kelly was.

    Have to agree its a lot better than Grace Kelly..but i still quite like Love Today

  2. At 02:47 PM on 21 Dec 2007, wrote:

    Great work by a great artist.
    Best he has done by far.

  3. At 12:48 PM on 22 Dec 2007, emma wrote:

    i love this song

    and it got 4 stars....
    wow
    im surprised by you, i must admit

    reminds me so much of the summer...
    :)

  4. At 09:46 PM on 23 Dec 2007, Chris wrote:

    Having heard this wonderdful track plugged by Scott Mills last year I bought the Mika album when it came out, hoping it would be more 'Relax' than 'Grace Kelly' which, sadly, it wasn't. Still a good album but could've used a few more weighty tracks like Relax and Happy Ending.

  5. At 07:37 PM on 30 Dec 2007, Marilyn Mastin wrote:

    Well, that review was not bad, but you did get one important fact wrong.
    Relax (take it easy) WAS released before, but NOT to the general public! It was a promotional single only and only about 500 copies were released, so it was never going to get into the charts at that time. This is the first time it will be released properly.
    I agree the Happy Endings is wonderful and I do hope that in the future, Mika will release some slower, more emotional songs which display his vocal range, and the mellow tones of his lower register, but I don't agree that the other songs, Grace Kelly, Love Today and Lollipop are rubish. They are great songs, which make everyone happy. Long may Mika continue, he is versatile and brilliant!!!

  6. At 07:38 PM on 04 Jan 2008, harry wrote:

    this song is great. i was in france in may and it was playing everywhere. i think it's great.

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