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Quote: Q Magazine Article: Interview & Coldplay's Track By Track Synopsis
Three years on from the stadium-conquering X&Y, Coldplay are once again braving the critics and public.
Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, which is released in mid June, is the band’s fourth release, sonically guided by the production genius Brian Eno.
Here the band talk you through the album, track by track:
Life In Technicolor
Glorious instrumental. Originally a full song with lyrics, but when described by a stranger as an “obvious single”, the words were removed.
Chris Martin: “It’s nice to not have a singer on the first song come in and ruin it. This is our milkman song, the most whistleable thing. We took all the lyrics off because this song was our only safety net.”
Cemeteries Of London
Folk-tinged ghost story written overnight after Brian Eno’s assistant, Markus Dravs, deemed a song of Martin’s “good” but not yet “great”.
Chris: “I was mortified. But if you tell me to write a better song, I’ll do it. He said it was good but said it in a German way, If you come in wis ze song, it’s finished, complete, great, I will say it’s great. Zis is not finished, not complete and therefore I cannot say it’s great. So I was, OK, **** you, man! And the next day I came in and played Cemeteries Of London.”
Lost!
Church organs swell over an earthy vocal where Martin is, “Waiting till the shine wears off”.
Jonny Buckland: “We recorded some of it in a church up the road that’s now a studio. In a huge room with a piano and organ going at the same time.”
42
A three-part epic. Profoundly moving piano riff nods to Lennon’s Imagine before strings swell and Martin hollers, “I thought you might be a ghost!”
Chris Martin: "Hitch Hiker’s Guide related? (The number 42 is revealed as 'the answer to life the universe and everything' in Douglas Adams’s sci-fi series) It is and it isn’t. 42 is my favourite number. 42 is just perfect. We’ve got two John Lennon songs, this and Violet Hill.”
Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love
Joyous indie-pop sparkler bleeds into bell-ringing hymnal.
Guy Berryman: “Couldn’t we make our minds up? No, it’s because we didn’t want to have an extra number on the CD. To keep it concise at 10 tracks.”
Will Champion: “We just preferred to have less titles and more stuff. The album as a whole has got the most on it, but it’s the shortest. We wanted to make it almost impossible for you to not listen to it all in one go.”
Viva La Vida
Strident, string-led cinematic opus featuring lyrics about cavalries, missionaries and kings.
Guy: “It’s a story about a king who’s lost his kingdom, and all the album’s artwork is based on the idea of revolutionaries and guerrillas. There’s this slightly anti-authoritarian viewpoint that’s crept into some of the lyrics and it’s some of the pay-off between being surrounded by governments on one side, but also we’re human beings with emotions and we’re all going to die and the stupidity of what we have to put up with every day. Hence the album title.”
Yes
Mournful strings coil around the lowest singing register of Chris Martin’s recorded life so far, played and arranged by musician Davide Rossi (discovered when Coldplay toured with Goldfrapp).
Will Champion: “Dav is like a one-man orchestra, he plays an electric violin that has everything, from the top note of a violin to the bottom note of a cello, all that range on one thing.”
Chris Martin: “We’ve become very good at collaboration. And passing if off as our own work.”
Chinese Sleep Chant (hidden track)
Juggernaut guitars and what sound like a choir of Angel Gabriels, along with utterly incomprehensible lyrics.
Chris: “The lyrics aren’t Latin, no! I will say this, if you take away all the guitars, what you’re left with is quite ordinary. But Jonny will always make things less ordinary. Without him we’d be ****ed. It’s true!”
Violet Hill
The first single and the song least like everything else: thumping Beatles-meets-
’70s glam-rock featuring Jonny Buckland on “guitar synth”.
Will Champion: “We really tried to make it sound like this great big machine that was slightly knackered. Something that’s slow and grinding. I’m sure people won’t get that! A psychedelic title? Violet Hill is a road in St John’s Wood (North-west London).”
Strawberry Swing
Twinkling Afrobeat, Eastern guitars and a phenomenally chunky bassline that appears to turn into a didgeridoo. Astonishingly, this works.
Will: “A lovely, joyous song. Guy and I have managed to get more groove into this record than we’ve ever managed before. A bit more swagger.”
Death And All His Friends
Melancholy piano segues into spangling guitars and a male choir exalting, “I don’t wanna follow death and all of his friends!” Vocals recorded in an art gallery in Barcelona that was once the medical room of an ancient nunnery.
Will Champion: “This is us singing all together and then another us singing together. The Coldplay Choir. And it had an echo that lasted for a long, long time. When we did a lot of group singing we just roped in whoever was around. Studio engineers, whoever.”
The Escapist (hidden track)
Church organ floats into a transcendental ambient instrumental written by Brian Eno’s friend John Hopkins, who “donated” it to the album. Over the top, a plaintive Chris Martin sings of escape.
Will: “I think with everything this time, the recording, the artwork, the live shows and videos, people will see there’s more to us than they imagine.”
The rest of the feature - and a full interview with Coldplay - will be in the July issue of Q, on sale June 1.
| Is it June 17th yet?  Oh, and apparently 'Life in Technicolor' is indeed instrumental.
Quote: Violet Hill Video: Where And When You Can Watch It
Coldplay’s video for “Violet Hill,” the first single from the band’s upcoming album, Viva La Vida, has been added to the highest rotations at MTV (Big 10), VH1 (large), MTV2 (Elite 8), mtvU (summa cum laude) and MTV Hits (Power). It will be the first video ever to receive a simultaneous premiere on MTV, VH1 and The N.
Lensed by acclaimed director/visual artist Asa Mader, “Violet Hill” premieres on VH1, MTV2, MTV Hits, mtvU, MTV Tr3s and The N on Monday, May 19th, and on MTV’s “TRL” on Wednesday, May 21st . Fans can check out the video online beginning today, May 16th, at 6pm on MTV.com.
| We've already seen it, but if you want to catch it on TV, this info is somewhat useful. 
Quote: Kylie Minogue’s Contribution Not Featured On Coldplay Album
Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue’s contribution to Coldplay's new album has not been featured in their new album. It was left out because lead singer Chris Martin decided that it did not fit the mood of the album, thesun.co.uk reports.
Martin said: “Kylie is awesome. She’s like ‘Girls Aloud’ rolled into one. I took apart the song she did with us, like a Corby trouser press.”
The bassist added that the album is somewhat political. “There’s this slightly anti-authoritarian viewpoint that’s crept into some of the lyrics. It’s the pay-off between being surrounded by governments on one side, but also we’re human beings with emotions and we’re all going to die…and the stupidity of what we have to put up with,” he said.
| Kylie Monogue? She's an interesting collaborator. 
Quote: [Download] Coldplay (Chris & Jonny) Interview With WXRT
Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland were interviewed by WXRT (Chicago radio) about the new album. The interview aired online in two segments on May 15th. Here is an excerpt from the interview:
Chris: I think Jonny was sick of hearing the sound of a piano everywhere so he decided to raise his musical middle finger to his own singer. Am I right in saying that Jon?
Jonny: uh...I don't think you're completely right
Chris: But I'm quite right though
Jonny: No, I don't think so
Chris: You're saying I'm pretty right
Jonny: No...no (laughs)
Chris: You're saying I'm 100 per cent right
Jonny: I was understating the fact you're wrong
Download the interview in mp3 here |
Quote: Hear Lost! (Studio Version) | New Interview With Coldplay Online
Play.com have posted a new video interview with Coldplay online, in which the background music is the studio version of Lost! - track three on the new album.
You can watch the video here
Coldplay return with Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, an album that sees the band emerge from the success of 2005's 'X&Y' with the same hunger that has gained them global success ever since 2000's 'Parachutes'. Lead single 'Violet Hill' contains trade mark catchy piano hooks, along with a heavy guitar edge that emphasises the band's hunger. Chris Martin continues to shine as a songwriter and musician, while his bandmates provide the ground on which the music can come to life.
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source: coldplaying.com __________________ just the two of us
as it was meant to be.
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