Coldplay friends with Conrad "Merz" Lambert

[Fixed]

If the Mods want to move this to Other Music once the initial hype this thread won't cause has died down then feel free. As a geek, I like to know about EVERY news item with the word Coldplay in it, so I figured a few other people may like to know also!

 

Sunday Times,

1st June,

Mark Edwards:

 

On his way to meet me in a north London cafe, Merz has popped in to see his old mates Coldplay, who own a rehearsal space round the corner. “I didn’t mention your comments,” he says, with a wry smile. In my five-star, album-of-the-week review of his new album, Moi et Mon Camion, I suggested that only when at the very top of their game did Coldplay match his gorgeously melodic songwriting genius. “They probably wouldn’t have minded,” I reply. After all, Merz and Coldplay have been a mutual admiration society since they first met, when both played the New Bands stage at Glaston-bury in 1999. Chris Martin once said: “Merz sounds like nobody else in the world, and the world would be all right if it listened to nobody else. We absolutely love him.” That probably constitutes at least a six-star review.

 

Merz and Coldplay weren’t just any old “new bands” back in 1999; they were Next Big Things: much fancied, much hyped newcomers, destined for greatness. They’ve both achieved greatness – it’s just that, in Merz’s case, it’s not necessarily in the sense the music industry usually understands it. “Our careers offer an interesting parallel,” muses Merz. Then he smiles. “Okay, it’s not a parallel at all, is it? What’s the opposite of parallel?”

 

Because while Coldplay’s debut album, Parachutes, was selling 8m copies, Merz, aka Conrad Lambert, was being quietly dropped by Sony (despite the success of his song Many Weathers Apart) and embarking on a six-year absence from the industry – years spent on the dole until he reemerged with his stunning comeback album, Loveheart.

 

The rest of the article is here:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article4025228.ece

[TraceOddity]

I've never heard of this guy...but he sounds worth checking out since Chris is so impressed. Thx for posting!!