Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay

When there is silence in the room following the announcement of a new album release, we certainly aren’t off to the best of starts.

 

That it should fall onto one would call the band in question ‘listenable at best’ does not bode well either. However, I must ignore my prejudices and attempt to approach it in an objective manner. Coldplay’s follow-up to 2008's monster -‘Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends’ - is a curious and sometimes unwieldy entity.
On the one hand, it builds on that previous album's progressive grandeur; a concept album set in a dystopian future with existential themes. Indeed, the instrumental entitled ‘M.M.I.X’, ticks all the relevant prog boxes with its whirring computer samples. Lyrically, many of the pieces deal with entrapment under this oppressive regime; ‘They got one eye watching you, so be careful who you’re talking to’ is the typical panoptical jargon. Hereafter, we find the solution; ‘the kids’ rise up and take over, inspired by the power of rock ‘n’ roll. The problem is that, since we are no longer in the 1970s, the kids appear tired, even awkward. Rush’s ‘2112’ or Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ remain master-classes in this medium. As such, those sceptics whom cry plagiarism at the band are given plenty of fuel.
On the other hand the album makes a foray into chart-pop. In a recent interview, singer Chris Martin offered a glimpse of this illumination; ‘we have [chart acts] Justin Bieber and Adele to compete with, they’re much younger and more energetic than we are’. This offers a worrying picture of the thirty-something year-olds in the studio, crafting songs to which they have a wholly superficial connection. Where its predecessor derived from artist Frieda Kahlo, Mylo Xyloto, ‘doesn’t have any other meaning…I think Mylo Xyloto might be an alien’ confesses Martin. The is certainly in keeping with the futuristic concept but in truth, much of the sound is business as usual. Jonny Buckland’s guitars soar, replete with an echo box and reverberator, the choruses will get the crowds chanting in the usual ‘wha-na-na’ manner and Martin’s vocals are at his opulent, sweeping best. I’m pleased that the injection of synthesized keys and bass-samples into songs like ‘Every Teardrop is a Waterfall’ and ‘Paradise’ genuinely enrich and freshen their sound. This new dimension could push the band into new avenues.
What we have then is a band attempting to break away from their tested U2-esque arena balladry. On the punchier songs this works brilliantly, the restrained production allowing the melodies to shine through. However, the flimsy plot and meanderings into ‘comfort-zone’ territory interrupts the flow of what could have been a refreshing new direction for the veterans.