Band Members: Coldplay consists of lead singer Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, drummer Will Champion, and bassist Guy Berryman.
For the past ten years or so, the music industry has crumbled under the financially beneficial but phonetically pedestrian powers of pop. Even more recently radio stations have been, for the most part, plagued by mechanical sounding twenty-somethings whining and swearing their way to success and/or celebrity rehab. So when Coldplay decided to come out of their three year long hiatus to create a fifth studio album, it meant that an antidote to the music industry’s diseased state was on its way.
Mylo Xyloto (pronounced My-low Zy-letoe) is the sunrise-drenched result of the band’s campout in an abandoned London church and their trek to the hazy orange plains of South Africa. The album, which dropped on October 24th, is high-frequency and hard-hitting masterpiece. Chris Martin and crew, assisted by legendary producer Brian Eno, crafted an album that mixes the band’s typical breed of sharp-edged chill with a fuzzy new kind of Coldplay charm.
The band has called MX a concept album- Chris Martin said in an interview that it is the story of two people, Mylo and Xyloto, falling in love- but the plot is at most vague and at some points indiscernible. Somewhere you should find out that they live in a utilitarian society and join a club called The Lost Boys, but it does not get clearer than that. Mylo Xyloto presents a story but does not get caught up in the theatricality of telling it (My Chemical Romance’s Black Parade, anyone?), maybe because it really only makes sense to the band.
There is something distinctly intimate and secretive about Mylo Xyloto, but the album’s best moments come when it is at its boldest and most intense.
It is hard to differentiate the great from the greatest on Mylo Xyloto, but its three best tracks are the tangy “Major Minus”, the epic and sweeping “Paradise”, and the creepy Rihanna-tinged thriller “Princess of China.” That being said, no three song sample can do this album justice. MX is, like all music should be, a work of art. Just like you would never skip around scenes in a movie, you shouldn’t listen to Mylo Xyloto out of order or only buy the more popular parts of it. Coldplay has created something vital and beautiful with Mylo Xyloto that stands as some of the greatest music of our era.
Mylo Xyloto is not as elemental and stripped down as its predecessor, 2008’s Viva la Vida. Some critics consider MX to be overproduced (it is significantly more processed than the band’s previous work, especially songs like “Violet Hill”), but this kind of evolution is what allows the band to stay relevant. The songs of MX span from the stadium-ready (“Every Teardrop is a Waterfall”) to the chillingly intimate (“Charlie Brown”).
The album opens with the title track, which is a 42 second wordless act that sets the stage for the rest of the show. Independently, “Mylo Xyloto” does not accomplish much in terms of either style or content, but it serves its role well as a transition into the second track. “Hurts Like Heaven” is a Passion Pit-esque musical joyride that practically bounces around bells and fast-paced synths. Even though it has embarrassingly jubilant lyrics (“cuz you use your heart like a weapon/ and it hurts like heaven”), the song’s bridge is one of the brightest points on the entire album: Chris Martin’s voice is layered over higher pitched versions of itself in a moment of superb production that could contend with the likes of Bon Iver and Imogen Heap.
The third track, “Paradise”, has none of its previous song’s lyrical problems. Before settling into its epic and majestic body, “Paradise” spends a minute showing off the scope of grandness the band is capable of producing.
The fourth track, “Charlie Brown”, is lyrically the album’s best. It utilizes characteristically vague cultural references to produce lines like “I stole a key/ took a car downtown where the lost boys meet,” which could be referring to Peter Pan but just as easily “My scarecrow dreams/ When they smashed my heart into smithereens” sounds like something out of a poetic adaptation of The Wizard of Oz and “Be a bright red rose come bursting the concrete/ Be a cartoon heart” could be straight out of Alice in Wonderland.
These opening songs are followed by three of MX’s more forgettable tracks. “Us Against the World” is a slow and lazy song that would fit in at a grassroots talent show; “M.M.I.X.” is a 48 second Eno-style track that is the musical equivalent of a rocket lifting off; “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” already reached mediocre fame as a single a few months ago. “Waterfall” is a dance-ready and optimistic track but fails to present anything outstanding.
Then comes the shocking “Major Minus”, the album’s eighth track that bounces with dystopian energy. The lyrics are Orwellian and creepy: “They got one eye watching you/ one on what you do.” Chris Martin’s cautionary tone lends itself to helping create the havoc that is the world of “Major Minus” (is that wind or screams you hear in the background?!). Jonny Buckland’s guitar is for once given the central role and a significant solo, which helps make the inadequately titled “Major Minus” a massive moment on MX.
Following this is “U.F.O.”, a peaceful track that calms down the vibe of the album right before the heavy-hitting and spectacular “Princess of China.”Mylo Xyloto’s strongest track, “Princess” features a heartbroken/terrified/angry Rihanna chanting what is some of the best work of her career alongside a heartbroken/terrified/angry Martin. “Princess of China” is chilling and ranks as one of the band’s greatest songs ever.
“Up in Flames” is a breakup ballad that has the potential to turn an entire arena silent and sad. Someone on the Coldplay team must have determined that “Up in Flames” did its depressing job too well, so the 30 second bridge “A Hopeful Transmission” was added after it to lighten the mood.
“Don’t Let it Break Your Heart,” the album’s penultimate track, is the most old-school style Coldplay to be found anywhere on MX. It reminds fans why they fell in love with the band in the first place.
“Up With the Birds” is MX’s final and worst track. It is disappointingly low key and doesn’t articulate how Mylo and Xyloto’s story ends, but maybe that’s Coldplay’s point. They leave the ending, literally and figuratively, up in the air.
Coldplay has reached their immense popularity because Chris Martin can coo arena anthems deliciously and infectiously to audiences en masse. Mylo Xyloto manages to be simultaneously chilling and calming without detracting any from of Coldplay’s trademark cool. The decade is young yet, but for now Mylo Xyloto stands as one of its greatest musical feats.
