It was great to finally see Coldplay live and experience all I have witnessed watching their performances on television/listening to them. I went to Radio 1’s Big Weekend in spring with one of my best friends, and the experience is even better when you are there. Of course, there were still people watching it through their phones, which beggars belief. I prefer to be in the moment, and sharing the moment with Coldplay is one of those times you are glad to be alive. The love and harmony are just immense. It was excellent to experience it before they split up. I was looking forward to hearing “Moon Music” after hearing some of the tracks teased during Glastonbury headliner. Everyone else was also looking forward to it, as the pre-sale for the album sold out at least five months before it was released. Unfortunately, it all was an anti-climax.
The album’s message of love and harmony is evident in its ten tracks, but it seems the artists were too focused on their zen during the sessions. The lyrical content is kept to a minimum, as seen in the opening track, where Chris’s vocals only appear in the final minute. Before that, the track is a soothing instrumental , best described as ambient music.
Of course, one of the tracks featured during the Glastonbury headliner ‘feelslikeimfallinginlove’ is one of the best ones. Chris’s vocals are more pronounced and the kind of song that got Coldplay scores of hits. Lyrically, though, is it found wanting again. The bridge section is excellent, where it is call-and-response, which the band could get the audience to sing back to them, and of course, there is the “la’s” hook, which will work live. I wish I could say I enjoyed ‘We Pray’, and to be honest, it features the brilliant Little Simz, but then it also has Burna Boy as one of the featured artists, and he ruins everything he touches, so as soon as he came on it, I skipped it.
‘GOOD FEELiNGS’ is a funky track, but as the common theme, the lyrics are not great. What about ‘iAAM’? What is that about, lyrically? Chris sings about standing on a sea of pain, but at the end of the lyric, he says that he will be back on his feet again. I mean, that isn’t very smart, to say the least. I suppose Noel did write “Slowly walking down the hall/faster than a cannonball” for ‘ Champagne Supernova’ back in 1995, so it might be just a case of Chris using rhyme.
Don’t get me started on ‘JUPiTER’. The subject matter is to make people aware of what it is like to be a lesbian and face homophobia from another person’s perspective, which isn’t a bad thing, but the lyrics are basic.
In a nutshell, I was highly disappointed with the final album. However, the message of peace, love, and harmony is present, but it’s not the triumphant conclusion we were expecting. The tracks are drenched in ambience, overshadowing the vocals . And when the vocals do appear, the lyrics don’t quite live up to their potential.
My introduction to Coldplay was the year of their debut album “Parachutes” at the start of the millennium. It wasn’t ‘Shivers’ I heard either, but instead their classic song ‘Yellow’. While on a break in the common room at sixth form college, I remember hearing it on Radio 1; I think that was the station, and the DJ was Chris Moyles. I loved the idea of someone ready to do all crazy things to prove their love to another. Not to mention the instrumentation itself. Later that day, I went home to do some coursework and download songs through Napster (Remember that?), and of course, ‘Yellow’ was one of the tracks.
“Parachutes” was a tremendous debut album, and everyone thought they would follow in the footsteps of Oasis, but the band had other ideas from the second record onwards. Indeed, Chris Martin said the band was created in the same image as his idols, U2. U2 upset many people when they changed from punk to make music to appeal to a broader audience.
However, unlike U2, Coldplay is the marmite of music. You know where I am going with this, so there is no need to explain further. Some idiots follow like sheep and believe it is “edgy” and “cool” not to like Coldplay, whereas some simply do not like their music because they changed dramatically after “Parachutes”. I do not care what music they make because I enjoy it regardless and respect their creativity. I have been slaughtered for liking the band. So why do they have such a vast fanbase if many hate them? Well, it all boils down to their live shows. There is something magical about seeing them live. Like U2, they can have the audience in their palm at any stadium and are frequent headliners at signature festivals. Regarding live performances, Coldplay is the second most significant band in the world behind U2.
However, when becoming a considerable stage presence, frontman Chris Martin might have lost his edge to write songs in the studio. Their last album was 2019’s “Everyday Life”, which, in the many accolades the band have received, was a massive disappointment as it was their first album in 20 years not to go multi-platinum. It didn’t fare too well in America, neither where the band are top-rated. “Everyday Life” didn’t get close to the sales made by 2015’s “A Head Full of Dreams”, which featured the likes of Beyoncé, Tove Lo, and their good friend Noel Gallagher (I recommend watching the film of the making of the album, and the tour.) I am not sure why the previous record didn’t do well. Maybe people didn’t like the concept of the band experimenting with African and Gospel. That’s what the band are about, though. Experimentation.
The band didn’t run away after the disappointment of “Everyday Life”. Its poor reception has motivated them to return more robust and show people that they are keeping their standards from slipping after 20 years at the top. Coldplay is still played on Radio One during the pop-friendly daytime, unlike most of their counterparts who have been consigned to Radio Two as their music isn’t “hip enough”.
To make their presence known, the lead single ‘Higher Power’, which is a track that is the Weeknd-esque with the electronic 80s theme, was premiered in the Mercedes advert to promote their new electric car after Chris had stated the previous year that Coldplay would not be releasing anything until 2022. It took many by surprise; some said that Chris was a hypocrite for saying such a statement and using it in the advert for Mercedes. It also boomed out in the International Space Station. So from there, only a few expected a new albumby the band, going by Chris’ comments. Even though ‘Higher Power’ was released, many still expected that to be the sole materialreleased until next year.
The collaborators of the previous record were not acquired for “Music of the Spheres”. Coldplay got Max Martin on board toproduce the album and gave him complete control. Max brought in the likes of Selena Gomez and theextremely popular K-pop boyband Bangtan Boys, aka BTS. I also like that London’s Jacob Collier was also acquired.I can imagine the criticism they will get for working with BTS, but Coldplay has always known that the best way to garner new fans and appeal to a broader audience is to remain relevant in the pop charts. Who knows, maybe some BTS fans have been turned onto Coldplay through the collaboration. That is what the band are aiming for. Remember that most music is now streamed via Spotify, so that the streaming hits will propel the band even further.
This is familiar for the band in that they have made tracks like ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ and their 2015 album ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ while featuring guitars was centred around electronica. On“Music of the Spheres”, I noticed that the synths feature prominently and are the loudest instruments. On a side note, some songs do not have names but are represented by emoticons or, as the youngsters call them, “emojis”. You need to go to Wikipedia to have a rough idea of what they are called. For example, the title track is stylised as an emoji of Saturn. Who would know that that planet represented the title track’s name? I know the band has used emojis as the names of songs before, but although it is unique and fun, it could be clearer at the same time to decipher the name. The track featuring BTS shows their dynamic ability and blends into the K-pop scene. Of course, there are also moments of what we know the band to be on tracks like ‘Humankind’ with an element of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ or Huey Lewis and the News ‘Power of Love’. ‘People of the Pride’ sees the band again flirt with Experimentation as they try to sound like Muse. However, this time, Coldplay appear to be out of place.
What annoyed me about the record is that there are many instrumental tracks that I have classed many times on previous reviews as simply throwaway tracks that shouldn’t feature on albums. The record does drag somewhat, and it is a welcomed relief when the ballads arrive. My favourite, of course, was ‘Human Heart’ or rather just a heart emoji featuring the highly talented multi-instrumentalist/producer Jacob Collier, who always uses his falsetto range. Now, I usually detest that piece of shit known as auto-tune, but it is used correctly to give Chris a Bon Iver effect on his vocals this time. Yes, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon is the only artist I can think of who uses auto-tune to better his vocals. I can’t believe I am saying this, but ‘Human Heart’ is one of my favourites off the record because it sounds like a Bon Iver track.
The obscurely named ‘Biutyful’ (From what I got from listening, it is pronounced “Beautiful”) sees the band try their hand at K-pop without the help of BTS. It works and has a beautiful melody. One wonders what the song’s original concept would be and why they decided to take a leap of faith in K-pop. The theme of the record is centred around the Universe. Indeed, the subtitle is “Volume 1. From Earth with Love”, which fits in with the humanitarian ways of Chris Martin. Chris is all about saving the planet. The album closes with ‘Coloratura’, which is far removed from most of the sound on the record.
This 10-minute and 17-second track is your typical Coldplay anthem that rings out in the large stadia they perform in. The song includes strings during the instrumental breaks and synths that sometimes stand alone. The record itself is…well, a bit mental. There is no structure evident (If there is, fuck knows where.), and it reminds me of an album called “the River” released by Pink Floyd during the last decade. That record also needed an actual structure in place.
However, I did enjoy “Music of the Spheres”, but it appears the band has rushed this rather than taken their time to make the album more structured. You go from an instrumental into a track, then a ballad, then a track that can’t make up its mind, whether instrumental or vocal. This is where Coldplay have fallen, in my opinion, on this album.
Song recommendations: ‘Human Heart’, ‘Biutyful’, ‘Humankind’
Honest Opinions 