COLDPLAY: Moon Music (POP): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Released in October this year, Coldplay's tenth album, “Moon Music” - whose full title is actually “Music of the Spheres vol. II: Moon Music” - follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, ‘Music of the Spheres (Vol. I: From Earth with Love)’, released in 2021. Co-produced by Max Martin (Katy Perry, Britney Spears among others), this album bears the hallmarks of the band's ethereal, lyrical pop, intimate, introspective “soft rock” and romantic melodies and lyrics, all served up by singer Chris Martin's instantly recognizable, soaring vocals.

But - and this new album amply confirms this - Coldplay have managed to transcend the limits that some had thought they could be assigned since their debut album “Parachutes”. In the early days, Coldplay could be seen as a sort of link between the post-punk of the 1980s (Echo and the Bunnymen, The Smiths, U2...) and more commercial pop, having achieved worldwide notoriety (to date, the band has won no less than seven Grammy Awards). Nevertheless, they have been able to experiment and evolve, making forays into electro pop or “space rock” that have enriched the band's musical identity. As for the lyrics, Coldplay remains true to itself: hymns to love, optimism and joy. In a world of increasing gloom and aggression, this approach seems to stand out from the crowd. For Chris Martin, it's all about “trying to stay positive in a world that seems to be falling apart”.

In this new album, pop ('Feelsi'mfallinginlove'), electro influences, orchestral elements, soaring and dreamlike music are skilfully fused into an epic, well-crafted whole, the diversity of sounds in no way detracting from the coherence of the whole. As with the previous album, this one also features the collaboration of international artists on certain tracks: Nigerian singer Ayra Starr on 'Aeterna', as well as Anglo-Nigerian rapper Little Simz and singers (Nigerian, Chilean-Palestinian and Argentinean respectively) Burna Boy, Elyanna and Tini on 'We Pray'.

An authentic, edifying and multi-faceted album, “Moon Music” proves, happily, that Coldplay is a band that continues to move forward even after some 25 years of existence, far from indefinitely repeating the same small number of formulas that earned them their worldwide fame. - Official website

COLDPLAY

MOON MUSIC

AUTRE LABEL

POP