The Tartan

The last time I reviewed a Coldplay album, I was a first-year. It was one of my first-ever articles, and I was nervous because I thought for sure I wouldn’t like it. The album was “Music Of The Spheres,” and I could tell just from the album art and tracklist that it would be nothing like the past Coldplay albums I had come to love. 

I was right — it was really different, but I ended up also really liking it. It made me realize that “Music Of The Spheres” wasn’t the first album I felt apprehensive about. “Parachutes” through “Viva la Vida” delivers a classic, dark, 2000s Coldplay feel. They explore themes of love and death, leaning into an edgy angsty-ness, which drew me to the band I loved back when I was edgy and angsty. However, “Mylo Xyloto” was really different — it was colorful and celebratory in a way the old albums never were. With each passing album — “A Head Full of Dreams,” “Everyday Life” — Coldplay has been modernizing, becoming more poppy, uplifting, and mature. I can appreciate that they are changing with the times and presumably with their own lives. They are evolving creatively, as any good artist should, as we all must. 

I still can’t help but feel some of my same anxieties with “Moon Music,” though. Change is good, but I think we love bands because of what they sound like, and if that sound is drastically different, we might not love them anymore. When I was younger, I read through Chris Martin’s lyrics like they were the Bible; I feared so much listening to a new album and said to myself, “I really don’t like this.” I think it will mean that I’ve grown apart from something, and I dread the idea of that.

Despite my existential considerations, I decided to do the brave thing and dive in. My first practical hesitation with “Moon Music” is that it was followed by “Moon Music (Full Moon Edition).” We can’t all be Taylor Swift. We shouldn’t all be trying to be Taylor Swift. Just because you can release more songs — live versions, remixes, features — doesn’t mean you should. To all artists: Demonstrate to us that you can make decisions about your creative vision. If you don’t think that remix belonged on the smaller version of the album, I don’t want to hear it released 24 hours later! Wait a couple of years or don’t release it at all. Regardless, I will be reviewing the extended version of the album just in case they snuck a gem in there.

I also noticed immediately that some of the tracks were named with emojis, which also happened (for the first time) on “Music of the Spheres.” I love that and also I hate it. What is the song called? How do I write its title in the newspaper? Some of the songs also have weird capitalizations where only the “i” is lowercase — whatever. Everyone seems to be doing the all lowercase or uppercase thing these days, so I guess I can live with it if Coldplay decided to not be like the other girls.

Anyways, that’s just the cover of the book. I’ll get to the worst of the book itself first. As I alluded to at the beginning of the article, Coldplay has been leaning into a couple of really interesting themes in their newer albums: the idea of worldwide peace and love, outer space, rainbow colors, and oddly vague and generalized cultures and religions of the world. There are a number of tracks that I would say fall into this vibe. “ONE WORLD” is obvious — “in the end it’s just love” — the sound of Martin singing in harmony with another person through a radio as if the radio is sitting in an alleyway in a random underdeveloped country? It’s clear he’s trying to end all wars with this one, and it’s just not something I am in the audience for. (It also uses a really similar bird sound to “Hymn for the Weekend,” which is interesting.) 

“We Pray” follows this same pattern. The lyrics refer to an unnamed god and a set of prayers for vague things to make the world better. There is a reference to “Baraye,” which is a song used by Iranian protesters. There are features by artists you would not expect, like Little Simz (who I love). I really respect what they’re trying to do, and maybe I haven’t dug deep enough, but I guess it’s just not what I come to Coldplay for, so I am less inclined to listen.

I’d also lump “ALL MY LOVE” into this category because it is just way too uplifting, major key and happy. I will say that the instrumentals remind me of older Coldplay in a good way, but the lyrics are really boring, and it doesn’t make me feel any emotions. The same goes for “i Am A Mountain.”

“JUPiTER” is similar, but it falls more into the rainbow obsession category. This is clearly a song about queerness, which hasn’t been directly addressed in any prior Coldplay music (I think) although “A Head Full Of Dreams” was really rainbow core. I feel bad for not liking this song because I don’t think it’s bad for artists to make music about queerness. I guess I just think there are ways to do it that are truly uplifting — like hearing a song by a queer artist about their own experience — and ways that do not inspire me as much. This elegy to someone we don’t know coupled with the lyric “I love who I love” is too saccharine for me, and I’m just really uneasy about it.

I have chosen not to talk about “feelslikeimfallinginlove” because I really, really don’t like it. I really enjoyed the rest of the songs. The emoji songs, the rainbow and the waving emoji, are both predominantly instrumental which is something Coldplay seems to have been experimenting with since “Everyday Life.” They’re pretty and vibey, as is “AETERNA.” “GOOD FEELiNGS” just barely slides in with “AETERNA” for me — its lyrics are boring, and it is really poppy, but it’s also catchy. On the topic of the rainbow emoji song, I’m confused about “Angelsong,” as it seems to be the same thing, just packaged slightly differently.

Surprisingly (but maybe as karma for what I said earlier), my favorite tracks came from the extension onto the original album. “The Karate Kid” is so fun and creative. Apparently the reference Daniel from the movie “The Karate Kid” is actually meant to be a reference to Martin himself. I don’t understand the part about the tattoo which makes me sad because I am a diehard “Cobra Kai” fan and thus I know too much about Daniel LaRusso. 

“Man in The Moon” is wonderful. It follows some of Coldplay’s classic melodic and harmonic patterns, but is modern in terms of instrumental choices. It’s an evolution within an evolution! They should make more things like this. “MOON MUSiC” reminds me of “Coloratura” from “Music Of The Spheres,” which I loved for its wandering musicality and intensity. They should make more things like this as well! 

The moon theme on this album is really interesting, and I’d love to know more about it. The sonic effect of falling music that they included at the end of some of the tracks really pulls me into this theme in a visceral way, which is super cool. 

I think I can be at peace with what Coldplay has done on “Moon Music,” and I’m happy that they are following their own path. We haven’t grown apart just yet, but still I’m mentally preparing myself for the next album. I know we can never go back to what we once were, but as with any relationship, I will try to love Coldplay for what they are, even as they change.