Coldplay get their groove back with Mylo Xyloto (Today Online)
From WikiColdplay
When Coldplay released their last album, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, frontman Chris Martin hinted that the album might just be exactly that - their last. But producer Brian Eno (best known for his work with Roxy Music, David Bowie and U2) had other ideas. [1]
Guitarist Jonny Buckland explained: "Brian's a very inspirational character. He wrote us a letter after we finished the last album saying: 'That was good, but I think we can go further, we can do more ...' And so in a way he got the ball rolling for, for this, you know?"
"Chris always has a knack of saying that this could be our last album but at the time, after we've just finished an album, it genuinely does feel like there's nothing left in the tank - there's no more ideas, so the idea of recording another record is terrifying," added drummer Will Champion.
It's to Eno's credit that he has eked more mileage from the Coldplay juggernaut, as Mylo Xyloto (pronounced "My-low Zy-lotoe"), the band's fifth studio album is arguably their most exciting, best flowing and enthralling listen since 2002's A Rush Of Blood To The Head. It is not only likely to confirm their position as the world's biggest band but potentially better its 9 million worldwide sales.
Chatting at their Bakery Studio in Hampstead, the band appeared relaxed although admittedly nervous how the world will respond to a record which began life as a "quiet acoustic record", which later was intended to be a soundtrack to a "Yellow Submarine-style" animated film (abandoned because it would take five years to make), but has now ended up as a progressive synth-infused pop "concept album" that still rocks.
"It was going to be a kind of a soundtrack album to a film we were writing ... We got quite far down the line with designing characters, and then we abandoned that idea and moved into a different direction," explained bassist Guy Berryman, who added that the new album retains "elements of the acoustic album and from the soundtrack album".
"So what we've ended up with is an album that we arrived at quite an unusual sort of way, so it's kind of a hotchpotch of all those different phases," he said.
Frontman Chris Martin doesn't baulk at the idea of describing Mylo Xyloto as a "concept" album - indeed against a climate of downloading individual tracks, he says they deliberately set out to make a body of work which fans would want to listen to in its entirety.
"I think if you wanted to use that word you wouldn't be wrong. It's about people who are lost in a big scary environment and find each other as a form of getting through it," said Martin. "It's a love story, basically. But it hasn't got many dragons or mountains which I think is what people associate concept albums with."
He continued: "But we really felt like the album is so under threat as a format that we should really make an effort to really tie it all together ... So if you want to find a narrative through it, you can, which is something that we just enjoyed doing."
They needn't worry. The buzz about the album, which hit the stores yesterday, has generally been positive, thanks to the the two singles, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall (released on June 3) and Paradise (released on Sept 12), having already made the rounds.
Plus, there's the collaboration with R&B artistes Rihanna on Princess Of China which has been drawing lots of attention.
"I actually sort of wrote it for Rihanna and then I liked it too much," said Martin of the song. "And then it became clear it was like a sort of back and forth between a couple. It took about a year to pluck up the courage, but eventually I asked her (to record the song) and she was not unwilling. I played it for her on piano in Los Angeles. That was quite nerve-wracking, I've gotta to say. And so she said: 'Oh, okay ... Yeah!'"
Credit for Mylo Xyloto's direction is also partly attributed to Coldplay's established team - Markus Dravs, Daniel Green, Rik Simpson and Eno, who is credited with "enoxification and additional composition" - as well as former manager Phil Harvey. The band was encouraged to experiment with the new material everywhere they went while on tour for Viva La Vida. Even though it was hard work, it did pay off.
"(Those sessions were) crucial, really, because we could see that the deadline was getting closer and closer, and those hours that we had in those studios around the world were really priceless," said Champion.
The band's push to make something come alive might be best exemplified by the track, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall, a song about not letting adversity get in the way.
"The central theme of the record (is) trying to turn bad things into good things somehow," he said.
"As a band we have been through some funny incidents in terms of people being aggressive towards us or whatever. And, a lot of the record is fuelled by a kind of fire which comes from turning that negativity into positivity. And I think everyone has something like that in their life."
Still, one question remains: What the heck does the album title mean?
"It means whatever you want it to mean," said Martin. "(To me) it means a freedom of expression and you can think up new words if you want to ... There're still things that you can invent and words beginning with X are few and far between so we thought we might try and add one."
http://www.todayonline.com/Entertainment/Music/EDC111025-0000154/Stylo-mylo
