Mika’s new music video sees him cruising for gay sex in the 1950s
Mika is on the prowl in new track ‘Sanremo’
Mika is officially back, and his latest music video for new track ‘Sanremo’ is a stunning tribute to the gay community of the 1950s.
The singer dropped the video for track ‘Sanremo’ on Friday, alongside the release of album My Name is Michael Holbrook.
The black-and-white video weaves in real-life archive recordings of discussions about homosexuality, before depicting Mika heading out into the city, evading the authorities as he cruises for gay sex.
Mika music video features struggles of gay community in 1950s.
The singer is seen saying goodbye to his wife and daughter at the start of the video, and culminates in a visit to an underground gay bar, filled with members of the LGBT+ community being their unapologetic selves.
However, the clip ends with Mika’s desired hook-up being interrupted by a police officer, as a real-life recording says: “The policy of this administration is that we do not knowingly hire homosexuals, and if we find a homosexual in our administration, we terminate their employment without delay.”
The video was directed by filmmaker W.I.Z., who explained that the video represents “an era when homosexuality if not illegal was socially unacceptable, a time of discrimination and persecution. San Remo represents his utopian dream, a fictional place of liberation and transcendence.”
Record labels thought singer was ‘too gay’ to sell music.
The singer has long included LGBT+ themes in his music, with 2007 song ‘Billy Brown’ based on a same-sex relationship, and 2015’s ‘Last Party’ inspired by the death of Freddie Mercury.
2015 track ‘Good Guys’ also included send-ups to legendary queer figures including Andy Warhol, Walt Whitman, Alfred Kinsey and David Bowie.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, he revealed: “I remember when I was trying to get a record deal, one of the heads of the label say within earshot of me, ‘It’s just a little too gay,’ and not sign me.
“If you say to someone now, ‘It’s just a little too gay, I don’t want to sign you’? One of the heads of one of the biggest labels in the world? So the times have changed. Thank God, they’ve changed.”
Mika’s ‘Sanremo’ video features an underground 1950s gay bae
In a Billboard interview, he added: “From a media point of view, [queer people] are certainly not given as much s**t as before, but this question of, ‘Is it a simpler journey?’ My ass, it is!
“It is still difficult, and every person’s journey is difficult, and it’s so important to respect that.”
