Alphabet Street

The world has witnessed events of greater significance than the release of Coldplay’s third album but nobody at EMI Records is quite convinced of this. From morose no-hopers to global purveyors of the artfully down-tempo, Coldplay have emerged as heirs to REM and U2, one of the few bands whose songs can resonate across continents. The problem is that, with success comes other stuff: unimaginable wealth, movie star wives, the attentions of the tabloid press. As the distractions piled-up, Coldplay’s output shrank in tandem. Who has time to ruminate over the emptiness of the human condition when Gwyneth’s just bought you a helicopter?

Their new album, X &Y, was slated for early spring release but had to be pushed back after the group scrapped and then re-recorded a clutch of songs (wiping millions off the EMI share-price in the process). In particular, the track ‘Talk’, which samples Kraftwerk’s ‘Computer Love’, was leaked on to the internet and then abandoned before a new version was added to the album at the last minute.

The strain of producing a follow-up to the 10 million-selling A Rush Of Blood To The Head was understandably intense; raising the pressure further was the clutch of imitators – Keane, Athlete etc – who have appeared in Coldplay’s wake.
Well the record is finally here (in digital format only; EMI swear they haven’t had a sniff of a physical copy yet). Under the gaze of armed watchmen and slavering guard dogs (alright, that’s maybe a slight exaggeration) hotpress was granted an exclusive preview of X& Y. Here are the findings.

1: ‘Square One’
A howl of reverb introduces the record, a moment as tortured and unfettered as anything Coldplay have produced. Guitars that sweep like blizzards follow, pitched between aggression and vulnerability. Only when Chris Martin’s vocals arrive does the music acquire a measure of purpose, settling into an overblown, rather strained, big-rock wig-out. You suspect it will make greatest sense when they hit the mega-venue circuit this summer.

2: ‘What If?’
X&Y expands into classic Coldplay territory – wide screen emotion framed by vast, glacial arrangements. There are hints of Thom Yorke in Martin’s strained croon; he bashes his piano as though primed to implode. Pent up and seething, 'What If' is an artful re-stating of the Coldplay coda.

3: ‘White Shadows’
The new-wave bandwagon trundles past and Coldplay gratefully clamber aboard. The result is X & Y’s first outstanding moment, a swooping riff on early Simple Minds, abetted by a fantastic ‘Blue Monday’-style bass-line. Suddenly Coldplay are smiling like they mean it.

4: ‘Fix You’
‘Fix You’ is a lofty torch song, hung on a melody, reminiscent of ‘What’s Going On?’ by 4 Non Blondes. The track culminates in a chiming, U2-esque guitar fade-out. A stadium sing-along in gestation.

5: ‘Talk’
The one they almost scrapped, ‘Talk’ cadges the hook from Kraftwerk’s ‘Computer Love’ – a move of sly genius. The irony of a monolithic rock band effectively ‘sampling’ the godfathers of electronica lends the song a heady gusto, from which the absence of anything approaching a chorus fails to detract. OK computer, indeed.

6: ‘X & Y’
With a piano melody that recalls say, ‘Clocks’, X&Y is perhaps the most quintessentially “Coldplay” moment so far. The fretwork strives for the epic lustre of Parachutes; Martin’s singing is painful and vulnerable. The first song fans will fall in love with.

7: ‘Speed Of Sound’
This one opens in a squall of shuffling guitar notes, like a dancer limbering up. What follows flirts with Stone Roses parody yet draws strength from the loose-limbed sensibility. The vibe is infectious; when Chris Martin sings he sounds almost glad to be here.

8: ‘A Message’
They do ‘Clocks’ again, but this time the keyboards wear twinkle-toes, a fantastic guitar melody turns up halfway through and Martin delivers just the right sort of vocal hook, understated yet with barbs that grip and refuse to let go. Before you quite know what has happened the song is under your skin and wriggling towards your heart.

9: ‘Low’
The guitar intro feels as vast and impenetrable as the twitching of continental fault-lines; the vocals seem to plummet from above, as if dropped from a B52. There is a sense of inevitability about the grandiose climax, where a string quartet apparently arrives and proceeds to thrash instruments in slow motion. Fans will go weak-kneed for it.

10: ‘The Hardest Part’
Edge-flavoured guitars underpin a spirited faux-metal arrangement. Martin has retrieved his bag of hooks now, and, halfway in, ‘The Hardest Part’ erupts into a buoyant chorus. Coldplay slough off the distractions of the outside world and playing with empathy and ambition.

11: ‘Swallowed In The Sea’
A doleful ballad leads us into the closing strait. The lyrics are suffused in maritime imagery – Martin fears he is losing a precious part of himself and risks being pulled into oblivion. The sense of an artist lamenting a life stolen by fame is augmented by the music, which swells and crashes majestically.

12: ‘Twisted Logic’
Kaboom! The stops have been pulled out. The bass trembles with pile-driver fury; the guitars rumble like a monster truck without a driver and Martin is howling, screeching and – is this still Coldplay? – yelping in the manner of a rock-star. A kick in the bollocks, just when it is needed.

13: ‘‘Til Kingdom Come’
A downbeat lullaby couched in folky guitars, ‘‘Til Kingdom Come’ appears to have wandered in from an entirely different album, the one where Coldplay swap their fenders for mandolins and write songs about squirrels and druids. Martin, who seems to be addressing his daughter Apple, coos in a hushed croon. A kiss goodnight from Coldplay to you.

X&Y is released June 6.