In which I review an album because I think you should buy it immediately.

While there is a constant (and sometimes regrettable) stream of new voices bombarding we music consumers – American Idol alone, a show I make zero effort to watch, exposes me to more young singers than I ever wanted to hear – there haven’t been any truly remarkable new voices in pop in a long time.

Until now.

A few months ago, Vuboq sent me the two singles off of Mika’s debut Life in Cartoon Motion. I listened to them, absolutely loved them, thought the guy sounded like Freddie (who, in contrast, claimed no classical training at all), noticed the tracks were getting airplay on my local LP station, and then I forgot about ’em.

Last night I listened to the rest of the album, read the wiki entry, went to the website, listened to the podcasts, watched the vids of the singles.

And then I listened to the whole album. About six more times. In a row. And it’s fantastically good.

Of course Mika puts one in mind of Freddie Mercury, but that’s not a bad thing. He’s probably got a five-octave range, although he claims only three and a half. (That’s because in opera, one claims only one’s working range, and the song hasn’t yet been written that requires more than three and a half octaves.) His falsetto is amazing, and he sings perfectly in tune. He says in an interview that he didn’t discover Queen until his teens, but I find it interesting that he’s written his own ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ ode, called ‘Big Girl (You Are Beautiful).’ I couldn’t tell you what it might mean, operatically oriented gay vocalists writing songs about fat girls, just that it appears to have happened twice now.

1. Grace Kelly
2. Lollipop
3. My Interpretation
4. Love Today
5. Relax (Take It Easy)
6. Ring Ring
7. Any Other World
8. Billy Brown
9. Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)
10. Stuck in the Middle
11. Erase
12. Happy Ending

‘Grace Kelly,’ ‘Love Today,’ and ‘Relax (Take It Easy)’ are or are about to be the album’s hits. I don’t think any of the other tracks will get much airplay, but I love ‘Stuck In The Middle’ for its ragtime groove and ‘Happy Ending’ for it’s quasi-orchestral outro.

Most astonishingly wonderful is the bonus track from the Japanese release called ‘Your Sympathy.’ It’s a piano ballad with two vocal tracks. He does a half step interval… twice! Amazing, for a pop album! (While there are in pop music occasional chords with half tone intervals in them, they’re not frequent, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a two-part vocal harmony on a pop album that featured a deliberate half step interval.)

I don’t know how Life in Cartoon Motion will stand the test of time because the songwriting’s a bit trite in places, but this kid has got a fucking voice. He’s an absolute joy to listen to. He absolutely owns his instrument, and he’s not a black chick singing R&B in G – which is literally all we’ve had for a long while, he’s a bona fide pop diva. A diva’s Diva.

Mika is 23, and almost strangely wholesome for a nouveau celebrity. Beautiful, with his big brown eyes and curly hair, but not quite sexy yet. Earnest and eager rather than jaded and oversexed. Endearing. He’s an interesting creature and I really hope he continues to produce because I’d like to hear this voice in ten years.

Overall, quite refreshing. You should get this album.