My Name Is Michael Holbrook is the fifth studio album by British singer Mika. It was released on 4 October 2019 through Casablanca and Republic Records. The album was promoted in North America with the Tiny Love Tiny Tour at small venues in New York, Montreal, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Mexico City. The album is also being supported by a worldwide tour, known as the Revelation Tour, which started in London on 10 November 2019 and extends into 2020, stopping at countries throughout Europe, as well as New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Singles
"Ice Cream" was the lead single released from My Name Is Michael Holbrook, on 31 May 2019. A video, directed by Francesco Calabrese and filmed in Barcelona, Spain, was released 27 June 2019. A behind-the-scenes video for the making of the music video and an animated lyric video, were also released for the song. Rolling Stone called the single "summer anthem bait". "Tiny Love" was released on 16 August 2019, and its video, directed by W.I.Z., featuring Mika and Ronke Arogundade, was released at the same time. According to Billboard magazine, the single is "an ode to the mundane side of love despite the track's grandiose production, sounding like an early-era Queen B-side." The video was shot in London. Mika has said that he wanted to capture the idea that love can feel enormous, "yet at the same time it's so tiny and imperceivable to others." The single "Sanremo" was released on 6 September 2019. Billboard called the tune "a shimmering pop jam about finding a place just for you and your lover." The video for Sanremo, also directed by W.I.Z., was released on 4 October 2019. Filmed in black-and-white, the short film is set "in an era when homosexuality, if not illegal, was socially unacceptable, a time of discrimination and persecution," says W.I.Z. In the video, a man leaves his wife and daughter behind to visit the clandestine spots of a city where he might find a potential gay lover. Live videos were also produced for the singles "Tomorrow" and "Dear Jealousy." Both songs were released in September 2019 and the videos were shot by in Brooklyn, New York, before Mika's performances there at a club called Brooklyn Steel.
Critical reception
My Name Is Michael Holbrook has received mainly positive reviews. Heather Phares from AllMusic commented that "My Name Is Michael Holbrook is never less than witty and genuine -- and much more enjoyable than if he'd tried to fit into someone else's mold". Matty Pywell of Gigwise gave it a positive review, saying that: "Mika is much better whilst basking in the glory of the sun than in the dank undertones of the city". Brice Ezell from PopMatters said "My Name Is Michael Holbrook doesn't deliver a definitive personal statement on Mika's part, and the production works against his creative vision from time to time. But it does offer half a dozen undeniably catchy jams and a reminder that Mika still ranks up there with the best pop artists of our time".
