"Love Today" is the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

released by London-based singer

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname, and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footba ...

, taken from his debut studio album, ''

Life in Cartoon Motion ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' is the debut album released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was produced by Greg Wells, mixed by Wells, with co-production on two songs by Jodi Marr and John Merchant. The album was released via Casabl ...

'' (2007). The song was produced by

Greg Wells William Gregory Wells (born 1968) is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and mix engineer. He has worked with Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Quincy Jones, J*Davey, Burt Bacharach, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Missy Elliott, ...

at Rocket Carousel studios and engineered by Drew Pearson. It was released in the United Kingdom on 16 April 2007 as a digital download, with the official physical release appearing on 23 April 2007, and peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart. The single was released in Australia on 23 July 2007, reaching number three on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, and was used for

Austereo Austereo was an Australian mass media company based in Melbourne. It was founded in 1980 by Paul Thompson, and operated 16 radio stations in metropolitan and regional Australia under the Today Network and Triple M brands. In 2011, the company ...

radio station network advertising. The song was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for

Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

at the

50th Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonie ...

but lost to

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

's " LoveStoned/I Think She Knows".

Background and composition

Love Today was written by Mika and produced by

. He described the story behind the song in an interview with the Sun Newspaper, on 2 February 2007:

"I was really happy when I wrote this and when I'm in that kind of mood I always hope everyone else feels the same way. Everybody is looking for the same thing - to love someone and be loved back. Or just to get laid. It all depends on how you look for it. 'Love Today' captures that, the euphoric feeling you get when those things go right."

Mika revealed to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', on 20 November 2009 that the song came fully formed "after the first time I had sleepy with somebody and actually loved it."

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews from music critics. Heather Phares from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that on the song "Mika straddles the line between adorable and annoying." John Murphy from

musicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

agreed, writing that his voice is "infuriating" on the track. In the same vein, Graham Griffith from

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

wrote that the song "finds itself hijacked by Mika's otherwise appealing falsetto, which morphs into an unflattering shriek and transforms the song into something altogether intolerable." Writing for

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

, Nick Levine called the song's chorus a "lost disco classic" and noted that Mika performs the track with similar enthusiasm displayed by the

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters are an American pop rock band formed in 2000. The band's current line-up consists of Jake Shears (vocals), Babydaddy (various instruments), Del Marquis (guitar, bass) and Randy Real (drums). Former members include vocalist A ...

. Christian John Mikane from

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

wrote that the song is "sincere." Mikane further added that "The pop-disco arrangement of 'Love Today' dresses Mika in legwarmers and leotards; it's the kind of song you'd expect the TV cast of '' Fame'' to perform mid-episode. Frankly, it's refreshing to hear an unproven artist take risks with material that, historically, is subject to derision." Lizzie Ennever from

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

wrote a positive review, saying that the song is "another winner - truly funky

disco-pop Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describes ...

that has you shoulder-shimmying non-stop, and even though you hate yourself for enjoying it, you simply can't stop yourself having a great time whilst you listen." Craig McLean from

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

called it "turbo-funk falsetto fun genetically modified to lay waste to hen nights and Freshers' Balls from Dundee to Dungeness."

Track listings

UK CD single # "Love Today" # "The Only Lonely One" (demo) # "Billy Brown" (acoustic) # "Love Today" (Switch remix) UK 7-inch single :A. "Love Today" (album version) :B. "Stuck in the Middle" (acoustic version) UK 12-inch single # "Love Today" (Switch remix) # "Love Today" (Rob Mello No Ears vocal) # "Love Today" (Rob Mello No Ears dub)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

"Love Today" was used by Motorola for online and mobile-phone spots in its RED campaign in early 2007. The song could also be heard in an ad for Motorola RED that featured comic Chris Kattan dancing that was shown before movie trailers in theaters at this time. The song was also used as the background music during the National Costume and Opening Presentation of

Miss Universe 2008 Miss Universe 2008 was the 57th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Crown Convention Center in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008. This was the first time that the Miss Universe pageant was broadcast in 1080i High-definition. At the end of t ...

held in

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. A portion of this song was used as a background song in a TV commercial for Indonesian isotonic drink Mizone in 2010. It also featured as background music in the first episode of

The Shrink Next Door (miniseries) ''The Shrink Next Door'' is an American psychological black comedy-drama miniseries developed by Georgia Pritchett based on the podcast of the same title by Joe Nocera. The miniseries premiered on Apple TV+ on November 12, 2021. The podcast and ...

when they are at Dr. Ike's party at the Hamptons house. "Love Today" has also been featured in a number of films including ''

Get Him to the Greek ''Get Him to the Greek'' is a 2010 American comedy film written, produced, and directed by Nicholas Stoller that serves as a spin-off sequel to '' Forgetting Sarah Marshall'' (2008), and reunites director Stoller with stars Russell Brand and Jo ...

'', '' Sammy's Adventures: The Secret Passage'' and ''

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

''. "Love Today" was featured on commercials of the Chilean department stores chain Corona on 2011 for its new logo.

References

{{Authority control 2007 singles 2007 songs Casablanca Records singles Island Records singles Mika (singer) songs Song recordings produced by Greg Wells Songs written by Mika (singer) Universal Records singles