There's been a tectonic shift in the face of the music industry since 2007, not that anyone cares. But the last time it was recorded that a song like 'Grace Kelly' had a fair chance at becoming a national UK Chart phenomenon. Whether you loved or loathed Mika, 'Grace Kelly' was pop music genius. But now, in a world where acts like LMFAO thrive in their own deadpan idiocy, it's hard to imagine the same style of music ever being successful again. The legacy of wonky-pop acts like Mika, The Hoosiers and Scissor Sisters was driven into the ground when neither came back with strong 2009 albums and when X Factor Series 6 Winner Joe McElderry was painfully shoe-horned into the same demographic. From that fatal blurred moment that has as much hope at being cared about as Steve Brookstein's independent record company, it was safe to say the loss of sufficient attention towards the sub-genre of wonky-pop when such poor material was being offered to salvage it. Add in the public's apathy and gradual migration towards more electronically-orientated sounds, any attempt to reinvigorate interest in the genre was either a completely non-event or released under the guise of novelty (see: Alex Day's actually quite good 'Forever Yours'). Like most other phase shifts in every form of media, it happened without the majority even registering.

Of course, despite the brief surge in popularity of these newly-inducted-to-the-mainstream-but-really-they've-always-been-there sub-genres of drum and bass, dubstep and breakbeat, the whole market has since slumped once again into a momentary but consistent period of directionless banality - the bridge if you like - between one musical phase and the next. Most popular music of today ranges from poor and hasty manifestations of substandard sex pop stamped with all the hallmarks left over from 2010, as everyone from Calvin Harris to Rihanna gaze longingly into a past as they try to re-enact the more exciting, vibrant and interesting sub-genre sounds they can find there.

But back to Mika, and his new album 'The Origin of Love'. It really is a bit different to his last two. But how big is "a bit"? Simply glancing at the cover of this album suggests a very different style in both sound and image from the previous two albums, who could almost pass as identical twins in terms of sound and image. The cartoon-esque frivolity and adorable cartoon characters that adorned his début may have been replaced with darker fictional monsters one might expect to find in the wildest dreams of a young boy engrossed in storybooks, but the camp bubblegum pop fanfare of the first album was still as prevalent, despite the undercurrents of 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much dealing with the more realistic (for him) but equally as partially-palatable (for us).

In short, Mika has always overdosed on the melodic hyperactivity at the expense of not being able to carry the weight of the themes behind his songs. To expand a little, no-one cared what he had to say because he either annoyed people when he opened his mouth or when he sat down at his piano. To expand a little further, songs like 'Lollipop' and 'Love Today' are very rarely interpreted as songs that speak of letting go of internal insecurities with the same reckless abandon as the childish melodies that adorn the songs, or the empowerment to speak against inequality metaphorically presented as an irrefutably catchy children's playground chant. He got a little closer to the empowerment target with 'We Are Golden' and the satire of the rich and spoiled with 'Good Gone Girl' and 'Blame It On The Girls', but by and large the cost of digging so far into these songs to find such messages was that the songs' elements of fun were completely dissolved, and that's if, as a listener, you found any fun in Mika's first two albums to begin with. And then of course there were his ballads. Often overblown affairs assisted with choirboys and gospel choirs, they either hit the mark spectacularly or congeal in their own stale, whimpering meagerness due to their reliance on twinkling four-bar piano refrains and tissue-thin falsetto. So generally, Mika's music has often struck a chord so hard that the keys' hammers shattered the piano strings, all the while he decorates the whole mess with jazz hands and making it hard to really appreciate any depth, or he's dived headlong into simpering mawkishness for ballad's like 'I See You' and 'Blue Eyes'.

So what's so different about 'The Origin of Love'? Are there any redeeming factors? Or even any factors at all that suggest he's moved with the time. You'd be mistaken for thinking he was being pretty misleading with that album cover staring back at you (or not) because the opening bars of the album's first and title track are textbook Mika, with plonking staccato piano chords. But when his voice comes in, thickly pasted over with generous vocoding, things already start to change. This first track is actually quite bearable. The sentiment is there, the realism even, assisted by a reserved urgency - it's possible to see this being the eight-years-late soundtrack to Eternal Wonder of the Spotless Mind - and even though the opening four lines of the song as amidst the worst he's ever written (its hard to imagine anyone not wincing at "Love is a drug and you are my cigarette"), 'Origin of Love' is actually a stroke of pure genius. It falls somewhere in the uptempo ballad range and for it's five-minute length Mika manages to hold off screeching in that voice that goes too high too often; his vocals sound softer here thanks to the vocoding and actually, screw it, 'Origin of Love' is just about the best thing he's ever recorded.

And thus is the message at large here on 'The Origin of Love' (talking about the album now; the title track kindly and confusingly omits the 'The') is that of being released from the state of love-struck-ness. A very retrospective and introspective album, there's definitely growth wanting to be shown here - Mika's six years older than when he first appeared and clearly has a lot to say - but like most of Mika's albums, the attempts to display such a message can often fall by the wayside. Such as on 'Lola', a song which can be largely ignored it because it's the type of song that promises a massive chorus after a series of boring verses, but merely trickles away into the unconscious as a gently disappointing and slightly colourless affair when said chorus doesn't arrive. It's the type of song that should be balls-out hyperactive and would probably have made more sense on 'Life in Cartoon Motion'. But Mika manages to hold of flitting in and out of falsetto whenever he feels the urge until the third track, where Benni Benassi shows up for an unexpected production collaboration on 'Stardust'. 'Stardust' makes a massive departure from typical Mika territory musically, but lyrically it's business as usual, ending up as a rave ballad that's probably for his European market more than his UK one. It concentrates too much on the weaker parts of the song, and neglects to inject the much-needed euphoria that the song's sledgehammering continental cousins achieve so easily.

Sloppy fourth track 'Make You Happy' serves as the album's first real ballad and is a prime example of overthinking what made 'Origin of Love' (song) so special. The vocoding makes the melody hard to pinpoint and the chorus' vocal melody doesn't seem to fit. The synths nicked from the K-pop song probably being recorded in the studio next door don't fit either. The verses are fine enough, but do little until the very end when things seem to fall into place, if only for about thirty seconds.

In fact, the ballads of 'The Origin of Love' fall into two categories, and it really isn't as simple as "good" or "bad". Those that are good at a first glance include 'Underwater', 'Kids' and 'Heroes', each for varying reasons. 'Underwater' suffers a strikingly similar piano refrain to Adele's 'Set Fire To The Rain' (only a problem if you care that much about bad music), but ultimately it's the best ballad Mika's ever written. 'Kids' suffers uneasy verses but prides itself with it's stunning chorus. And 'Heroes' offers a glimmer of hope in that sometimes Mika's falsetto can be beautiful when set against a dreamy, softly pulsating production. You'll find many of the choruses on the album irresistible and the productions are sound throughout, but it's those moments where Mika has trouble restraining himself that it all goes a bit awry. The best example here is 'Love You When I'm Drunk' with 'Emily' (the English version of his 2011 French single 'Elle Me Dit') second in command. The former draws a response akin to that which would inevitably be felt if a man circus was let loose inside the Diogenes Club. 'Emily' however is actually catchy enough, but you're going to have to be a fan of Mika to stomach it either way, because as we've said, catchiness doesn't carry Mika's themes.

Although, that isn't to say Mika's at his best when he's not being Mika. 'Popular Song', a duet with Priscilla Renea (no idea) has the capacity to be pretty hilarious, though I wouldn't want to see it performed Live, even if it''s a genius re-working of the song from the musical Wicked. One of the albums shining moments though, sits hidden away in the middle of the album - 'Overrated'. The textures on 'Overrated' are almost tangible. It's hard to tell if Mika's upset or angry or vengeful or whatever, but on it he gives his best ever vocal performance without having to rely on his falsetto too much, and comes off as one of few times his attempts to encapsulate those elusive 'darker' themes has landed smack bang on the mark.

Overall, 'The Origin of Love' continues Mika's struggle to separate himself from past niches and for people to view him as a serious artist. It's not too different thematically, and there are moments which are musically textbook Mika. Not all the electronic influences suit him, although given 'Overrated' and 'Origin of Love's brilliance and the fruitful input of Empire of The Sun and PNAU's Nick Littlemore, I wouldn't be completely averse to something similar, just so long as the 'Love You When I'm Drunk's are left well out. Also, ignore lead single 'Celebrate'. 'Celebrate' is ****.

Listen if you Like: Empire of the Sun, Scissor Sisters, MGMT, The Hoosiers.

Download: 'Origin of Love', 'Underwater', 'Overrated', 'Heroes'.

Available: Now

Rating: 6.3