Mika: “My fuck you in power, who enjoys humiliating”

“I feel like a hamstera hamster on the wheel, a spinning top”. I meet Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr, for friends Mikain the midst of the frenetic promotion of “Hyperlove“, the seventh and new studio album. “Hyperlove” arrives three years after the last album of unreleased songs in French (“Que ta tête fleurisse toujours”) and its producer, Nick Littlemore, wanted to spend crazy amounts of money to record only on analogue and vintage equipment.

A decision that arises from a desire (or need) for reflection, to avoid rhythms hyper imposed by technology and today’s society, to rediscover ourselves as human beings. As human beings Mika and I have a lot in common, starting fromvisceral love for our dogs. In fact, the first thing I do when I see him is show him a photo of my fur babies.

“Hyperlove” is an album about love in its various forms: is that of animals the purest?

Yes. I always say that there is a pure exchange, there is a deal, an agreement between us and them: you feed me, you make me walk, you look after me. The agreement is clear and you have to respect it, otherwise it won’t work. But within that structure there, within that agreement there is space for a love that goes the opposite of the system of evaluating love in our society between human beings. And this makes me laugh a lot, because on the one hand it’s a lot transactionalit’s a transaction, and on the other hand it’s very spiritual. It is both things, and when they coexist, they bring order. There is no more confusion.

“Immortal love” is a tribute to that love and is also the final track. In the end it is that love that saves us.

Yes. Also because you know, when I talk about loveit is not love in the romantic or phantasmagorical sense: it is rather a question of energy, soul and electrical charge. Once, when I caught my dog’s gaze, I thought that they are here for a short time, and that charge I felt there… Hell, it’s the same electricity that is in the gaze of a parent or a lover. There isn’t a difference. There is the same energy in my partner’s eyes as in my dog’s.

A few years ago you said that your dream was to still have potential. Is this album your dream come true?

Yes, this record is my decision to take total freedom. I am very aware of one thing: seeing my career and my path, what makes me truly happy and what defines my artistic and human identity is the fact that we are a bubble. A somewhat unique exception within this industry panorama. I feel I don’t say theunderdogbut the alternative within a slightly more standardized world – and I’m super proud of that. Let’s defend and protect this thing here. But I also wanted to write an album designed for a 15 year old, who listening to this album can feel a feeling of hope, of possibility. You can also be crazy in life, and I mean that seriously; as long as you do it in the service of something credible and sincere. Your madness, your madness is not shameful, it is not something to be fixed.

You cannot tolerate the abuse of the stronger over the weaker. Does what is happening in the world affect you?

Absolutely yes, because we are experiencing a moment of humiliation, as if everything were a gladiatorial sport. And you can see this pleasure in humiliating. How do I respond? With a fuck you total to the energy and way of being that I don’t like. And I think I’m not alone. But let’s not respond with tears: let’s fight fire with fire. You can also understand it by looking at the album cover, which is perfectly aware of the energy it is communicating: the idea is that I am using the language of the clown to fight the real clowns. Except that we know that the clown’s is just a mask, just a language; they instead… And I don’t even need to say who I’m talking about, you already understood.

At the center of the album is the piano. If your piano could talk, what would it say about how Mika changed from “Life in Cartoon Motion” to “Hyperlove”?

He would probably be the only one to honestly say that, unfortunately, I haven’t changed at all.

Musically a little yes.

Musically yes, but who cares. The spirit and intention have not changed at all, nor has the motivation. When you play a piano you become the same person you were when you started. That’s why I’ve always wanted to write on the piano, especially with this album. I really wanted to impose this limit on myself of writing only on the piano.

For the 2024 tour you were inspired by David Bowie. For 2026?

The Russian Ballets of the 1920s and Constructivism. I launched this tour without even a single, without even announcing there was an album. And it worked because it wasn’t a standardized choice. My promoters received endless calls saying it was a mistake… in fact it was the right choice. We will do two slightly different concerts: I manage to get all the production, that is 11 trucks, into the Bologna venue – it’s very ambitious. It will be the same show as Manchester and Rotterdam. In Turin, however, he can’t enter, so let’s do a show that’s a little more rave, a little more stripped backmore minimalist and a little more “dancing”. I like this duality that we are bringing to Italy.

Once upon a time, before an important moment in your life, your grandmother gave you sugar. How do you prepare for life’s important moments today?

I dress. Even on the cover I’m dressed in this bizarre look: I’ve forced tan on my face, I have hair and an insurance salesman’s outfit… It’s all done on purpose. I dress to face the world around me. Clothes are a way of communicating and playing with the world around you.

You speak a lot of languages. Your last album was in French. Why was English the right one for this project?

Because there was one stream of consciousnessa stream of consciousness. I didn’t want filters and I absolutely wanted to provoke this free association that English allows. You know, to go back to making pieces that are pieces but seem like dreams, I had to use my language of the unconscious.

You are an avid reader. What if you had to describe your album with a literary eye?

Hunter S. Thompson threw up a pop album.