Ghost Stories, Coldplay
Review by Chris Smith
THE sixth album by the band which have established themselves as one of our biggest is not exactly what fans will have expected.
You have to wait until the penultimate song, A Sky Full of Stars, on the nine-track album for anything that resembles the sing-a-long anthems they have been producing since their debut album Parachutes all the way back in 1999.
And while you could not describe the other as ballads as such, this is a slow album. But do you know what…..I like it.
Despite all four band members getting writing credits on the sleeve notes, you get the feeling Ghost Stories largely reflects what has been going on in front man Chris Martin’s personal life in recent months and a closer listen to the lyrics gives an insight into his feelings since spitting from his wife with an air of emotion running throughout.
Magic, the first to be released as a single, is the other stand out song on what I suspect is a brief aside to their usual style: It even features choral music at points (Always In My Head and Another’s Arms). So much so their headline set at the recent Radio One Big Weekend featured many songs from their back catalogue.
But after three years since Mylo Xyloto fans were desperate to get their hands on new material by Coldplay so despite the surprise change of tone it was no surprise that pre-orders alone virtually guaranteed them their fourth UK number one album and top spot in virtually every country in the world, and several after days in my car CD player it does start to feel a bit more uplifting.
Based on the timings of previous releases it is likely we will have to wait another three years for album number seven although this low key effort and with no major tour planned I suspect it will not be so long before Chris and co are back in the studio this time.
Ghost Stories is out now on Parlophone.