The title of Coldplay’s fifth release has no preempted meaning.
With the power of Google, the foursome searched Mylo Xyloto and found no set significance of the words together We wanted to have something that didn’t mean anything else.
We made up ‘Xyloto. Mylo Xyloto doesn’t bring any meaning with it, so in that sense we’re beginning with a clean slate.
“Together, the words will mean what we make them mean with this music.”
After establishing themselves as one of the biggest modern alternative rock groups in the world with four previous highly successful albums, Coldplay has decided to release what they call a “no-holds bared” album.
They enlisted Brian Eno writer and producer behind many 80’s hits for artists like U2 and David Bowie as well as Coldplay’s last smash hit Viva la Vida.
While creating Xyloto, the band has admitted in many interviews that they were influenced by more than just the classic rock they admire.
In his BBC interview, Drummer Will Champion revealed that they were all influenced by the “audacity” of Kanye and Jay-Z’s recent collaborative disk “Watch The Throne.” In the past, Coldplay’s formula of larger than life anthems coupled with sentimental ballads has greatly prevailed with their wide audience of fans, usually more than it does with critics.
No doubt, the formula is the same in Mylo Xyloto but the bands newer pop and electronic influences are evident as well.
Though Coldplay has had many successes Chris doesn’t take them for granted stating in his Rolling Stone interview when asked about Coldplay’s future tour plans, “It’s a question of whether there’s any demand.
I just don’t think you can take those things for granted — unless you’re the Stones, or Bruce.
If the album is a bomb then we’ll probably have to open a cake shop or something. We’ll wait and see.”
The album begins with an instrumental intro then immediately picks up with three back to back stadium status tracks, “Hurts Like Heaven”, the single “Paradise” and “Charlie Brown” packed with Chris Martin’s falsetto singing, woah-oh vocals hooks, cascading guitars and opulent keyboards.
These songs are reminiscent of the epics the band has constructed in the past, although the concepts aren’t as heavy.
In an interview with Toronto DJ Dave Bookman, Chris describes his inspiration for the stand out track “Charlie Brown” by the world of cartoons where, “You can get your head cut off and be alright in the next scene.”
The ideas retain this playfulness throughout most of the album and Chris’s clever and subtle political jabs are no where to be found.
Next is the youthful ballad “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” with lyrics “ I turn my music up,
I turn my records on/from underneath the rubble song a rebel song.”
In the mean time Coldplay milks the smaller more intimate moments for contrast with songs like “ Up in Flames,” “Us Against the World” and then returns to large wall shattering sonics with the Rihanna assisted dance track “Princess of China” and the Radiohead reminiscent “Major Minus.”
If the collaboration is what Coldplay considers “no-holds-bared” though the feature isn’t innovative it is very interesting and Ri-Ri actually fits in quite well with the U.K. quartet.
After the mellow “Up In Flames” and a “Hopeful Transition” into “Don’t Break Your Heart” which sounds like the older Coldplay, optimistic and spirited, Xyloto ends with “Up With Birds” which features a picking acoustic guitar solo backed by a symphony.
If Viva La Vida was classic Coldplay, then Xyloto offers the big moments to rival the past but the breakdowns, the mellow, lower tempo songs aren’t nearly as heartfelt or introspective as they’ve been before.
After carefully listening to Mylo Xyloto, some critics have already took the term to mean “Greatest Hits Era” others as “A Radical Return”. I’m optimistic that if listeners found themselves addicted to the medicine this U.K. foursome put into their past records that they’re up for a relapse.
Noteable Tracks: Princess Of China, Paradise, Charlie Brown, Major Minus
7.75 Spins Out of 10