For the very first time in his career, Lebanese-American artist Mika is releasing an album written entirely in French. The title, May your head always bloom, came from his late mother, to whom he pays homage with a piece. “She gave me the idea that freedom lies in creativity,” he said Newspaper.
You lost your mother, Joannie Penniman, to brain cancer in 2021. Why did you want to pay homage to him with the piece? That’s life?
“My mother and I have always worked together. She was the one who trained me when I was seven or eight years old. I remember we were driving so I could sing and we were sleeping in the car. Towards the end of her life, because she was very ill, her last message to me was a drawing. It was a birthday present. She had done it on an iPad and sent me a naive little drawing of myself with flowers coming out of my head. She wrote to me: “Happy birthday, may your mind always blossom.” It took me a while to understand that she was giving me the key to my work, to my creativity. And maybe a way to stay happy in the long term. When my head blossoms, it means that I am dynamic, that I have ideas, that I am free and perhaps that I can be happy.
This is your sixth album, but it is your very first that is 100% in French. Why did you feel up to this challenge?
“Because this connection with the French-speaking world is super important in my life. It’s not Mika pretending to be French, it’s me singing in French. There is a big difference. It’s a bit for the same reasons that my head exploded when I first came to a concert in Montreal. A whole part of my life takes place in the United States, growing up in New York. And there, an hour’s flight from New York, it’s a world where people talk like me. The French language, the French-speaking world, is a big part of what defines me and sets me apart from others.”
Does releasing an entirely French-language record have an impact on the English-speaking markets you normally visit when touring?
“This tour should not be international. But we have so many offers for Asia! They know what the show is going to be, but they want it. That surprises me enormously. There are inquiries from China, Japan and South Korea. The first sold out shows were the 20,000 capacity ones in England, Berlin and the Arena in Amsterdam. This is proof that you have to have the courage to tell your story and that people will come if they feel it is sincere.”
Are there any shows planned in Quebec?
“We are planning it now. Of course, it’s no secret that this region is very close to my heart. It is a different connection than the French connection with France. I find myself a bit in this mix of North America and the French-speaking world. This is something I’m planning very carefully, but at the moment I can’t tell you anything! [rires]»
What will your 2024 look like?
“Right now I’m releasing the album in French. And I’m writing the album in English and preparing for a tour that will be global. Filming of “The Voice” for TF1, the filming of the new season of the show “The Piano” is underway in England. And there’s another TV in another country that I’m not allowed to talk about at the moment. I can’t hide from you that it’s hard, but there is a lot of freedom in all this planning chaos. By doing everything I do, I can afford to sing an entire album in French. And that, I know, is a great privilege. And that’s why I give it my all. Even if it is tiring at times, this artistic freedom is worth defending.”
Mika’s new album, May your head always bloom, is on the market. yomika.com.