Coldplay’s new album “Music of the Spheres” is out

British band Coldplay has released their ninth studio album, “Music of the Spheres.” It was produced entirely by Max Martin, who for the past 25 years has been crossing the Swedish musical miracle with the American “song machine”. Boris Barabanov reports on the results of his collaboration with the band.
Coldplay is ready to throw their arms wide open to any audience ready to listen to them

Coldplay is ready to throw their arms wide open to any audience ready to listen to them

Coldplay’s first two albums, “Parachutes” (2000) and “A Rush of Blood to the Head” (2002), introduced the world to a team of songwriters who were moving toward stadium rock, building on the achievements of Brit-pop, U2 and Radiohead. Coldplay’s melodic gift was evident everywhere, it even went so far as to have Gregory Leps record a cover of the song “Yellow” from the first album, and he never did anything to disappoint his audience. The great song “Clocks” from “A Rush of Blood to the Head” was a perfect example of how Chris Martin and his mates took something from U2 that could be charted and sung with glee in stadiums. And “Fix You” from “X&Y” (2005) demonstrated how Coldplay could do the same with Radiohead.

By the time they recorded “Viva la Vida” (2008), Coldplay were able to get their favorite producer, Brian Eno, as an ally, dreaming of getting on par with his regulars U2.

Coldplay have never been shy about borrowing and making loud statements. While still working on “X&Y,” Coldplay leader Chris Martin said he was going to make the best album ever:

“Why not try to be Einstein, even if the attempt is doomed to fail?” “X&Y” failed, but Coldplay was unstoppable. They realized that the concept of “rock band” had lost its sacred meaning, and if the version of “Lost” featuring rapper Jay-Z on “Viva la Vida” and “Princess of China” featuring Rihanna on “Mylo Xyloto” (2011) looked like experiments against the pompous stadium pop rock, then the list of producers of the album “Ghost Stories” (2014) included Swedish EDM DJ Avicii, American guru of commercial sound Timbaland and young French house specialist Madéon.

The ingratiatingly electronic “Ghost Stories” was only a preface to the pop blockbuster “A Head Full of Dreams.” The Norwegian pop production team Stargate was responsible for the sound of that album. The song “Hymn for the Weekend,” recorded as a duet with Beyoncé, became an absolute, global hit – the music video shot in India added a billion-dollar audience to the band. The music video for “Adventure of a Lifetime,” co-directed by actor and motion-capture expert Andy Serkis, is now on YouTube’s list of over one billion views.

When discussing the latest album “Music of the Spheres,” talk primarily about the involvement of Swede Max Martin – the architect of the success of the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Pink, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd.

The question of how the producer of Ace of Base, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears could work with a rock band has long been irrelevant. As if, after “A Head Full of Dreams,” Coldplay fans could still be surprised by anything. As if after the Bon Jovi song “It? s My Life”, which Martin produced, anyone still doubts his gift as a crisis manager.

Rather, it was the involvement of k-pop group BTS (“My Universe”) and Selena Gomez (“Let Somebody Go”) on the album that caused concern. Coldplay were aiming at the teenage audience and the top of the streaming services. On the other hand, young jazz genius Jacob Collier did a vocal arrangement for the song “Human Heart,” which was probably intended as a counter to flirting with the TikTok audience.

Max Martin, on the other hand, provided Coldplay with several straightforward hits, chief among them “Higher Power.” The song was clearly inspired by the success of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” which in turn was influenced by A-Ha’s “Take On Me” and rekindled public interest in 1980s music.

The most successful songs of any period of Coldplay’s history ultimately go back not to U2, Oasis and Radiohead, but specifically to the Nordic euphoria of A-Ha. And there are quite a few tunes on Coldplay’s new album that easily stand up to comparisons to the Norwegian trio’s legacy. But shoulder to shoulder with the writing talent of Chris Martin and his comrades is always the desire to present themselves as something more than a pop band.

The creators of the album “Music of the Spheres” were inspired by the idea of ancient philosophers that the movement of celestial bodies is a musical form, and music is a metaphorical journey into space.