Coldplay Single Preview: Read About 'Violet Hill' Here Before You Download It On Tuesday!

 

Track transitions from stomping guitar chords to hushed vocals, indicating the rest of the album's atmospheric sound.

 

By the time Tuesday morning (April 29) rolls around, you're going to know what we're talking about.

 

That's when Coldplay will post "Violet Hill" — the first single from their upcoming Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends album — on their official Web site for free download. (It's scheduled to happen at exactly 7:15 a.m. ET, FYI.) The move is rare for a band of such stature, not to mention a band of such major-label-tude. And while we applaud such forward thinking, we're also figuring that most Coldplay fans don't want to wait until Tuesday morning to climb "Violet Hill," so we're going to give you a preview right now.

 

And no, we haven't swung some sort of streaming deal with Capitol Records. Rather, this is a written preview of the track, which MTV News was lucky enough to hear last week — along with the rest of Viva — at the EMI headquarters here in New York. We're not allowed to write about the entire album just yet (suffice to say security is tight on this one), but we figured the time was right to dish some details about "Hill."

 

And while we realize that reading about a song doesn't compare to actually hearing it, what else are you gonna do for the next 15-odd hours?

 

"Violet Hill" opens with the barely there bubbles of synthesizer-and-guitar fuzz, a quiet clamor that starts off down a dark hallway, then slowly fills the open space, building into a wall of gauzy, all-encompassing white noise (that's a common theme on Viva) that grows to massive — yet minimal — proportions (that's another theme) before being punctured by frontman Chris Martin's winsome falsetto recalling "a long and dark December/ From the rooftops I remember there was snow."

 

From there, the song suddenly shifts from spacey to stomping, thanks to some muscular guitar and piano chords. It's a startling change — and a powerful pounding — that recalls both the opening moments of "Politik" (from 2002's A Rush of Blood to the Head) and some of Queen's more theatrically garish moments. That momentum builds and builds until guitarist Jonny Buckland throws in a curling solo that coasts into a smoother, sexier and, dare we say, Maroon 5-esque midsection, complete with Martin crooning "If you loved me/ Why'd you let me go?"

 

The breakneck shifts don't stop there, as the band pick things back up — more of that pounding again — before the entire wall of noise falls away, and all we're left with is Martin and his piano, his voice hushed and breathy, as he pleads once more to his (presumably absent) lover, "If you love me/ Won't you let me know." (Cue those tabloid rumors!) Then the song comes to an end, as quietly as it began.

 

Again, we're not allowed to write much about Viva la Vida yet, but we can tell you that if you like "Violet Hill," well, then you're gonna love the album. If you hate it, well, you'll still probably love the album. "Hill" is strongly indicative of the breadth of song structures you'll hear on the Brian Eno-produced album, and at the same time, it's unlike anything else on the album, which is a decidedly atmospheric (yet organic) affair. Confused? You ain't heard nothin' yet.

 

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1586412/20080428/coldplay.jhtml

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

nice

Welcome!!This discription of the song gets me more excited about the song than ive ever been!!

oh my god, this is KICKASS and detailed!!!! :dance:

Wow, I just like, completely freaked out when I read that. Especially the way it shifts from being really loud to just Chris and the piano. It sounds AMAZING.

AOFIHSAOIH!!!!!!!!

 

that article was so good! i took a nap and some of my excitement was lost and that brought EVERYTHING BACK!!!!! WOW!

holy crap im sweating

Sounds like it will sound great.

 

That's like the second derivative of hearing it! So close yet so far away!

dude,i got butterflies!

awesome! GUITAR SOLO! POUNDING! AAAAAAAA

ok, freaked is an understatement for me.

 

oh my god, i don;t know if i've ever been that excited over an article before. if anything, that just made me MORE excited, which i didnt think was possible anymore.

 

they sound like they love the whole ALBUM. it sounds like it could be LEGENDARY. it sounds like this is what we've been asking for.

 

i think i need to go find a paper bag to breathe into for the next...TWELVE HOURS EXCTLY!!

tomorrow morning is going to be a very good morning

i cant take this anymore

im sweating and have butterflies too, after waiting its all happening so fast and I am really really excited and wow tomorrow I'll have the new song!!!!!

 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW

THanks for posting!:D:D:D

AWESOME

i will knock my self out and wake up exactly at 6 15! with a large lump on my head

i think i would quite literally explode into flames if someone lit a match next to me. i feel combustable. i'm shaking here, with flying saucers in my stomach rather than butterflies. AHH.

 

this article was half exactly what i needed, half just TEASING us...

:dance: THANK YOU !!!!!!!

 

if you like "Violet Hill," well, then you're gonna love the album. If you hate it, well, you'll still probably love the album.

 

:dance: :dance: :dance:

don't hurt yourself...it'll be ok :)

hahaha! "Maroon 5-esque"

Bloody HELL that was AMAZING.

It's like the person who wrote this article knows us! Knew exactly what we wanted to hear.

 

Excellent. This time in 12 hours, we'll have it! :dance:

 

I may explode

hahaha! "Maroon 5-esque"

 

yeah thats the only part that disturbed me a little bit