Coldplay’s fifth studio album strikes a comforting chord.
The eagerly awaited CD brings back a familiar sound in a new way.
It is safe to say Coldplay has a very dedicated fan base in addition to their stellar mass appeal.
The band’s latest album, “Mylo Xyloto,” does a good job of complementing their past work as well as propelling their musical style forward.
The latest package features a whopping 14 cuts with some pretty great variations.
The true standouts of the album are “Hurts Like Heaven,” “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall,” “Major Minus,” “U.F.O.,” “Princess of China” and “Don’t Let it Break Your Heart.”
The disc starts off with an overture of sorts with the album namesake, “Mylo Xyloto,” which leads gracefully into “Hurts Like Heaven.”
This is a remarkable fast-paced song that immediately propels the album forward adding momentum to the slower songs later on.
This cut features familiar keyboard tones that have given Coldplay’s music a somewhat alien taste.
Meanwhile, the lyrics roll off lead singer Chris Martin’s lips, pushing the tempo and seemingly never letting up; overall, it’s a nice little diddy that pushes the tempo a little harder than most of Coldplay’s songs.
A few songs later, “Charlie Brown” shows up.
This is a song that really expresses the core of Coldplay’s musical style.
Anyone can hear this one and immediately recognize it as Coldplay.
The haunting lyrics that have no meaning individually, but wrap together into a complete thought are marvelously presented by Martin with just enough reverb to really give them power and meaning.
It seems likely that this could be the next single considering how clearly Coldplay it is.
“Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” was the first single off the album and it is easy to see why.
The song is splendidly written and orchestrated.
The sound of it at times feels like a full orchestra is behind John Buckland as he strums away at his guitar.
Subtle tones and pings bring about a rising sun feeling of anticipation and the song continually builds.
Martin pulls everything together with some catchy lyrics and dynamite holds. This is easily a cornerstone of the album with its strong music and rhythmic lyrics.
Following in the colossal footsteps of “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” is the bizarrely paranoia-inducing “Major Minus.”
The track opens with some nice acoustic work and then some drowned-out lyrics that eventually open up into a calm kick to move the song forward.
The lyrics are truly bizarre.
Several verses are repeated over and over and become a monotonous mantra of paranoia until the structure of the song breaks down on a fun little tangent right before the song cuts out.
It is songs like this that are really inspiring.
Coldplay did some interesting things here and the variety is much appreciated.
“U.F.O.” slows things down a bit.
This song feels more like poetry backed to music than anything.
The music is calm and cool, drawing a lot of focus to the lyrics presented.
Of course, in true Coldplay fashion, the song builds, but it never goes above a loud whisper of words.
This is a nice intermission for the album that draws a lot of focus to the subtlety of some of the other songs.
After another cool musical breakdown, “A Hopeful Transmission,” comes “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart.”
Unlike “U.F.O.,” this cut feels more like it’s focused on the music and the vocals are just there as an accompaniment.
Each climax of lyrics is dramatically emphasized by montages of music that make their presence known.
This song feels a lot like a musical salute in a world where there is so much focus on the singer and the vocals.
Overall, the oddly named “Mylo Xyloto” is a great offering from one of the most recognizable British bands.
The sound is very Coldplay, but it takes enough chances to be exciting.
That is one of the reasons why they have had so much success.
They try things to keep their music new and fresh without overdoing it to the point where they are unrecognizable.
If you are a diehard Coldplay fan or just a casual listener you will enjoy this album.
If you are not, then this probably will not change your mind.
