COLDPLAY  -  Xylo Myloto

Album Review

By David Elphick

From the off, Xylo Myloto, an album name the band have already admitted means nothing, follows a bright and energetic path. Hurts Like Heaven has an upbeat Passion Pit like energy to it followed by ‘Paradise’, a perfect single and a classic Coldplay single release.

Mylo’ showcases some interesting, if not original experimentation with electronics (‘Hurts Like Heaven’ & ‘Princess of China’) and there is no shortage of catchy riffs and choruses (‘Every Teardrop is a Waterfall’ & ‘Charlie Brown’)

The R&B, club styling of ‘Princess of China’, featuring vocals by, and supposedly written for, Rihanna, is affirmation that Coldplay are unashamedly aiming this release at the widest possible music buying market, but as experimental as it is, Chris Martins vocals are eclipsed by a singer much more comfortable in this dance-pop environment. It is so alien a sound for Coldplay that had it not been featured on Mylo Xyloto I would have been convinced it was a Rihanna release featuring Chris Martin, and it still would not have sounded convincing.

It is frustrating that such a high profile band is unable to think further than MTV for collaborations. I expect that the decision was more commercially motivated, (likely for the US market) but I would have much preferred to see this track take the more daring and artistic path of featuring a lesser known vocalist of traditional oriental background, rather than a bestselling R&B pop act.

As a purist, ‘U.F.O’ is my standout song of the album, mainly because it is kept free of electronic tampering and therefore holds more raw feeling. ‘Up in Flames’ also provides something on a slower paced romantic ebb and glimpses of the Coldplay of old.

Coldplay’s sound has become more complex over the years but with that has come reliability on excessive end production. For me, this has diluted of much of Coldplay’s original substance, leading to a loss of the subtle, delicate and moving balance of piano, guitar and voice which first made them special.
‘Paradise’ for me encapsulates the best of what Coldplay has become as the rest of the album lurches unconvincingly through different styles in the hope that catchy tunes with electronic twists will be enough.

Mylo’ expands upon musical approaches showcased on Viva La Vida. The build-ups and hooks are on the whole well crafted for perfect, anthemic stadium-crowd pleasing sing-alongs... Yet, for some reason it all just smacks of a lack of passion and sincerity to earlier works, particularly in the lyrics department when high pitched ooohs and aaahs appear to be a crutch used far too frequently.

Less is just so much more when it comes to Coldplay, and when stood alongside other bands of the genre, such as Passion Pit, the Killers, U2 and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, they seem far too chipper about simply fitting in, when by now this band should be able to produce the exceptional.

Rating:  3/5