Written by Tom Bedding
On their 8th studio album, Coldplay reinforce their intentions on wanting to be the band of the moment, regardless of the content. We are given moments that show us what the band use to be, which will be fine for many, however we should expect more by this group. When you think about how Coldplay should have been that great mix of Bon Iver and Feet Floxes post 00's, this album makes you want to sit in a corner and shed a tear at times.
After a somewhat pretty intro, the first single properly starts the record off in okay form and seems to of done reasonably well for itself. ‘Higher Power’ does feature an infectious chorus that does get stuck in your hand, however the rest of the track feels rather poor and lacklustre. Chris Martin's vocals do not offer much and especially within the verses, which feel so cheap with its quality. Overall the main single off Coldplays eighth studio album is an okay mix of Peter Gabriel and gospel elements, which simply pleases you in the plainest of ways.
To a wonderful surprise, ‘Humankind’ is by far the only solid and impressive song on the entire album, offering a great mix of rock and Max Martin’s production. Coldplay feel like they want to get up and play ball here, it feels very glistening with the acoustic guitar mixing in together so well with a rather catchy, electric guitar lick. It is a real shame that Chris Martin has come out and said that it felt too rock for the band while they were trying to record the song. I presume the outcome to this issue was to cut down the rockier elements of the number, a real shame perhaps.
Sadly we experience a huge comedown after a rather impressive moment, as the ‘Ghost Stories’ era returns in a rather bland and uncomfortable way with ‘Let Somebody Go’. Featuring Selena Gomez, this cut has a bland minimal beat and sparse instrumentation, that makes a fruit salad feel extravagant. The two singers feel unimpressive together, while the lyrics are both cringe and offensive in some cases.
It feels like the modern Coldplay cliches are similar to the annoying quotes found in the tacky present shops down every Essex highstreet, trying to find a deeper meaning about gin or the autumn breeze. With this in mind, the song called love heart (actually the symbol or shape or whatever), has the band and a gospel choir sing about how boys and girls can actually cry or be themselves….yes I yawned too. As I listened to the song, I could imagine those patronising dads in their 30’s wanting to play this song to their kids Lucifer or Meringue in their Tesla, reminding them that their privilege is a spiritual trait and they should only use it to help themselves on their 'journey'.
After a slight bluesy riff starting off ‘People of the Pride’, that wakes you up after the love heart song, the song becomes insanely drab and left me hugely disappointed. Martin’s performance is uninspiring and the industrial drumming, feels so tacky and pretentious. Unfortunately this middle chunk of the record is hard to chew and I guess you can feel my frustration, let's hope something better comes along next? Wrong. Next we have this annoying vocal distortion that truly ruins some lovely instrumental work on ‘Bitutyful’, I generally thought we were going to be okay on this one.
After another interlude, we are given the song that ensures the streaming numbers are sufficient, yippee. ‘My Universe feat. BTS’ does not pack a punch and the Korean group’s standard hook lines and bass line, are nothing inspiring and catchy. Given, it is great to see Coldplay hook up with the Korean band but the outcome, is very poor and safe.
The last interlude is titled as the infinity symbol, which luckily is not telling us how long this song is! It is nice, offering some lovely sounds that makes you feel like you are zooming through space, seeing the beautiful stars and galaxies. Despite cringing that Coldplay were weirdly jumping into the space fun (while rich billionaires are fighting like babies to get into space), this felt like a nice and calming moment that made me feel at home.
Then to conclude the band’s latest record, we have a well respected and admirable song called ‘Coloratura’. At times, you can say it sounds wonderful and that Coldplay are showcasing their old magic but the overall result, should not mean it can be nine minutes long.
Luckily for them, the idea behind this does leave the final moments of ‘Music Of The Spheres’ on an okay level. As we land back safely on earth, you just know that Coldplay will get the streaming numbers needed to keep them happy but this space exploration album, does not have enough baggage to make the trip interesting.
Bring Me The Music Recommended Tracks: Humankind