Suddenly, Coldplay is Exciting Again

Coldplay recently released their 8th studio album entitled Everyday Life. This 52-minutes long record contains a double album. The first half titled Sunrise and the latter half titled Sunset. In this record, Coldplay stepped out of their comfort zone and tackles various social political issues regarding Islamophobia, racism, guns, and humanity in general. I think it’s fair to say that this album – by a landslide – is the most political Coldplay album to date, or maybe, will ever be.

Chris Martin said in an interview that this album’s content is constituted by their personal experiences, personal views on things that they see happening, and some songs are about putting yourself in other people’s shoes. He described that some of the songs are “very inside looking out and some are very outside looking in”. Chris Martin also explained that this album tries to touch upon the portion of the world that is fed to a false and terrifying imagery of ‘otherness’. Presumably, about the imagery of the middle east in western media.

Musically, this album is far more experimental than all its precedent. The production itself stretches from variations of modern jazz into experimental rock influenced by Nigerian and Middle Eastern music. Additional musicians involved in the production also varies. Palestinian oud trio, Le Trio Joubran; Nigerian Saxophonist Olufemi Anikulapo-Kuti; and Palestinian singer/LGBTQ rights activist Bashar Murad are several names out of more than 25 musicians/artists involved.

The first two singles of the album – Arabesque/Orphans – was released on 25th of October as a teaser of the album. Those two songs were the ones that reignited my excitement for a new Coldplay album. A well picked teaser, I guess? Particularly Arabesque. If there’s one song off the album that will be written in history as one of Coldplay’s most monumental song, it’s Arabesque. The glorious production, the French vocal provided by Belgian singer and rapper Stromae, and that mad horns sections by Femi Kuti and his band makes Arabesque sounds chaotic, in the most beautiful way. This song is also the first Coldplay lyrics that contains profanity. May not mean much, but it definitely adds a surprise element to it. Their Drummer Will Champion said in an interview that they’ve been reluctant to use swear words in their songs, as there are more elegant ways of delivering a message. But after all, he’s also grateful that Chris Martin’s been keeping the swearing jar empty, and saved it all up for this this one. For me, this particular song absolutely stands out and pushes the album into a whole other level.

Everyday Life is adventurous, well produced, and packed with intensity. Everything i could’ve hoped for from a new Coldplay album, but ironically, something I didn’t expect. As a fan, I’ve been very disappointed by Coldplay. Not to sound pretentious, but i always feel like Coldplay’s last couple of albums were average and offered nothing new, with a couple of good songs scattered here and there. Well, at least for my liking. For example, Ghost Stories was too repetitive at times, and the lyrics – to put it gently – wasn’t Chris’ best. But with that being said, O and Oceans are amazing songs. Likewise, A Head Full of Dreams contains great songs such as Up & Up and Everglow, but got lost over the course of a bland album. Not surprisingly, those albums managed to bury my excitement for a new Coldplay project. But as it turns out, I was wrong. After all, Coldplay still got a few tricks under their sleeves. This album just single-handedly resurrected my love for Chris and Co.

Personally, this album was a relief. A huge relief. I’ve been highly critical of Coldplay in the last few years, but that’s just because I genuinely believe that they’re capable of making great, great music. I mean, Parachutes? A Rush of Blood to The Head? Ridiculous albums. Modern classics. Like Kanye, there always seems to be a firm distinction between the ‘old Coldplay’ and the ‘new Coldplay’. I used to be a part of that debate, most of the time complaining about this so called ‘new Coldplay’ for being too pop-ish and dancey. I used to hope that Coldplay would come back to those ‘golden era’ of Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to The Head, or at least, X&Y. But this new record just broaden my perspective. If this is what the ‘new Coldplay’ sounds like, I’m definitely up for it.

After all, music is subjective. For me, I used to favor the ‘Everything’s Not Lost’ and ‘Warning Signs’ side of Coldplay compared to the ‘Something Just Like This’ and A Sky Full of Stars’ side. But then again, Everyday Life is something else. It’s the Coldplay we never got to hear. They suddenly just don't give a fuck. They’re talking about things they wanna talk. They’re playing music that they wanna make. Coldplay is at a phase in their career where they can make whatever the fuck they want, and people will still listen. They’ve literally got nothing to lose. With this album, they justified that, brilliantly.

#coldplay #music #everydaylife