REVIEW: COLDPLAY - MOON MUSIC

4/5

Cold Side Of The Moon

You've all seen the meme. Bryan Cranston's Walter White of 'Breaking Bad' fame, dropping a pipette of crystal meth into a test tube. I used it myself for my own caption, "applying the hair serum my friend kindly got me for my 39th birthday". But we all know the famous one, "Coldplay carefully crafting the worst f###ing song you've ever heard." Funny? True. But "facts"? False! Thousands of people in a sea of hundreds of flags, not to mention millions watching at home as per the great British tradition, in concert with a Coldplay gig at the UK's iconic Glastonbury Festival can't be wrong. England's Coachella (more like Coachella is California's Glastonbury) featured everyone from Dua Lipa to LCD Soundsytem, this Summer. But Chris Martin and his crew (Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, Will Champion, and no relation, Phil Harvey) were the only ones to bring out 'Back To The Future' legend Michael J. Fox out on guitar. Go, Johnny! Go, go, go!

Oasis, reunited, have our money (not our Ticketmaster sterling, Jesus Christ!) on headlining Glasto last year. Even Liam Gallagher has talked about how he preferred the old Coldplay, like rap fans say Kanye. Sure, this group who have collaborated with everyone from Beyoncé to BTS, have been in their electronic era for a CASIO minute now (ever since 2011's 'Mylo Xyloto'), but we then college kids still have fond feelings for 'Parachutes' and 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head' (not to mention 'X&Y' and 'Viva la Vida' amongst other friends). It's been 'A Head Full Of Dreams' since then for Chris and his coldest play, but one of the best British bands ever still return to their roots every now and then like with the haunting 'Ghost Stories' of 2014 (pure 'Magic', like the Brandy cover of said song) and 'Everyday Life' in 2019. Yet, like The Smashing Pumpkins giving us 'Teargarden By Kaleidoscope' over a decade, Coldplay have crafted music more colourful than a Holi festival transported to Tokyo's neon Shibuya Crossing.

Lovers in Japan, get ready for this 'Moon Music' (it's only right to release after Glastornbury) by the prism of a pure Pink Floyd like cover of atmospheric album artwork. Serving as a sequel to 2021's 'Music Of The Spheres', this project is official 'Vol. II', after volume one's, 'From Earth With Love'. Recorded in Tarifa, Spain's Punta Paloma studio (the band's logo featuring on FC Barcelona's kit), this pop rock hit features production from The Chainsmokers, the great Jon Hopinks (on the titular opening) and of course, Max Martin. Shot to the moon by the sweet singles, 'Feels Like I'm Falling In Live', the holy 'We Pray', and the latest 'All My Love', that is concurrent to the album, as this record and the last is to the Music Of The Spheres World Tour (a tour edition of this album features a live at River Plate bonus), which will surely see a trilogy for this era. Like Rihanna, or Jay-Z, the likes of Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna, and Tini (on 'We Pray') and Nigerian singer Ayra Starr (on the standout track 'Good Feelings') feature on this (for the) planet encompassing project. Culminating in the classic closer 'One World' for you too.

Sampling 'Funeral Singers' by Sylvan Esso and Tim Rutili for the lead single. Using the words of the timeless Maya Angelou for 'Alien Hits/Alien Radio' back-to-back. They also interpolate their own work for 'Moon Music'. Not to mention use the birds of 'Hymn For The Weekend' for 'One World'. And it's all done to epic effect. Just like the stylized titles with the 'i' in lower case, no space bar, like Prince and even a rainbow emoji for all this changing weather. Just like 'iAAM', AKA, "I am a mountain." From the drops of 'Jupiter', to the antenna of 'Aeterna', this is one great album that Choose's Love like some of the first singles proceeds. Playing all around the world, like the immersive pop-up listening events in Auckland, Berlin, Beijing, London, Paris and Toronto, as well as the Valley of the Moon in San Juan. But for this tenth album, it's the closing statements of 'One World' that really hit home, before the house recorded aside reprise. "In the end, it's just love". And that's it. All you need. Hey, Jude, how's that for a song to hear? TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Feels Like I'm Falling In Love', 'Good Feelings (Feat. Ayra Starr)', 'One World'.

Spin This: Coldplay - 'Music Of The Spheres'.