There’s been a lot happening in Coldplay land that I really haven’t been paying attention to. There were some cryptic tweets and that weird “fuzzy man” video. I don’t have any commentary on either…I have enough mystery in my life trying to guess who-done-it in my mystery novels and weaving my Doctor Who theories. What we done have, however, is seven new songs.
Today, a three-song EP was released worldwide (apart from in America) including the previously released ‘Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall’ and two newbies ‘Major Minus’ and ‘Moving to Mars’.
‘Every Teardrop is a Waterfall’: I’m not thrilled with the lyrics beyond the opening line but I do like the danceable beat.
‘Major Minus’: This sounds more like the Coldplay of Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. I like it but nothing about it has really clinched it for me.
‘Moving to Mars’: Maybe it’s because I research a lot of space missions for work or because the opening is reminiscent of early Coldplay, but I really like this track.
As you probably know, ‘Every Teardrop’ was released as a single on June 3rd. On that day and on the day after, they played two concerts at the Rock am Ring Festival in Germany. There, they premiered ‘Major Minus’ and four others:
‘Hurts Like Heaven’: I really like this one. Can’t tell what any of the lyrics are, but I love the melody and the guitar riff.
‘Us Against the World’: Wow. LOVE it. I think this is my favorite of all the new songs. It sounds so hopeful and lovely, it reminds me of one of my all-time Coldplay favorites ‘Til Kingdom Come’, and Will’s vocals are pretty prominent. What more could I want?
‘Charlie Brown’: Awesome opening riff and probably the catchiest of the bunch: “Light a fire, light a spark / Light a fire, a flame in my heart / We’ll run wild / We’ll be glowing in the dark”
‘Princess of China’: Not really sure what’s going on here but I think I like it?
In a BBC Interview following Coldplay’s Glastonbury appearance last night, Chris Martin stated that their album was still incomplete, and that it was, at that time, narrowed down to 85 minutes. So we don’t have an album title for LP 5 or a release date. And we may not have a track listing but we can be fairly certain that we have seven tracks on our hands.
And remember, Coldplay has performed two other new songs since Viva La Vida was released in 2008. ‘Don Quixote / Spanish Rain’ premiered in Buenos Aires in February 2010 and ‘Wedding Bells’ was a song we heard part of on the South Bank Show and a finished (but crappy) version for Apple.
The three songs released today are OK but they didn’t have me very excited for the new album. I much prefer the other four songs – they are just more catchy and vibrant to me. If LP5 is more centered on those four, I am just itching for the it!
Those are my thoughts and they are more than likely to change as I listen to the songs more. But I want to hear your thoughts too! Which one is your favorite? Do you hate any of them? What do you think they say collectively about the new album?
The Sound Snack 