Coldplay: 'Rock music has nowhere left to go’

COLDPLAY ON STAGE EARLIER THIS MONTH CREDIT: GETTY

• Neil McCormick, music critic
  

As Coldplay release their new album, Chris Martin and the band tell Neil McCormick why rock has had its day

 

'W e felt like rock music has been done,” says Chris Martin, apparently dropping the lid on 60 years of swaggering guitar bands. Contemplating the zesty pop tones of Coldplay’s new album, A Head Full of Dreams, Martin suggests “the future of music is in new sounds and new ways of treating vocals. We wanted to add those colours to our palette.” His bandmate Guy Berryman agrees: “There’s an awful lot of rock music already out there. I’m not sure there is anything left to add.” Not that Martin thinks Coldplay will be considered any great loss to the genre by die-hard rockers. “No one would ever put us in a list of the top 10 rock bands. We’ve maybe rocked out once, for 10 minutes. I don’t think anyone would throw up the devil horns to any of our major works.”

 

Yet as frontman for Coldplay, the biggest-selling band this century, Martin is still arguably the definitive rock star of the last decade. So it is interesting how uncomfortable he is with established notions of stardom. Incredibly friendly when I meet him backstage recording the Christmas Top of the Pops special, the 38-year-old doesn’t drink or take drugs, dresses scruffily in sweatpants and a hoodie, and likes to walk everywhere without retinues of bodyguards and hangers-on. “One of the benefits of not having a particularly great dress sense is, I don’t really look like a pop star. I like to go on the Tube and see what’s up, get out in the cold with everybody. We don’t need to go down the street in a Roller.”

 

Forming the band in 1996, at the tail-end of Britpop and arguably the beginning of the end for rock music, he thinks “an advantage for our generation is that we see how things turned out for other musicians. The old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll lifestyle thing is great, but does it really make for great music? Does it make people happy? I don’t feel we’re embarrassed about being successful, but we don’t need the perm and the gold Rolex.”

 

 

Walking around London, Martin doesn’t always manage to maintain his anonymity. Recently, he found himself being assailed by irate builders yelling: “I’m sick of seeing you in my newspaper every f---ing day.” With their new album, released last Friday, hurtling up the charts, Coldplay are in the midst of a blitzkrieg of radio and TV appearances and have announced a stadium world tour for 2016. So it was never going to be a quiet week. But the element that adds prurient intensity to the attention is Martin’s 2014 divorce from Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow, after 10 years of marriage and two children, and subsequent romantic links with Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence. He is currently dating British Peaky Blinders actress Annabelle Wallis.

 

Chris Martin with ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow CREDIT: KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY

“I don’t mind what anyone thinks about the soap opera element of my life,” Martin insists with a shrug and a grin. “Every human being, whether they are a pop star, a prince or a pauper, has challenges. So the interesting questions are about how do you respond to them. Do you let them control your day?”

 

Coldplay’s subdued and introverted 2014 album, Ghost Stories, was widely deemed to be Martin’s divorce record, and the upbeat A Head Full of Dreams has already been pronounced to be the sound of him bouncing back – his dating album if you will. “Songwriting to me is about making sense of the day,” says Martin. “So of course my personal experiences are in there, but I wouldn’t like to reduce it to that. I am really trying to process the outside world. So if I’m looking at a story about Israel or Palestine or reading The Grapes of Wrath, it all comes through.” He describes the album as an attempt “to link the personal with the universal.” It concludes with Up and Up, an inspirational song about changing things in life that are not working for you that “just grew and grew and now it sounds like this big world peace anthem. But it came from a very personal place.”

 

Chris Martin with Beyonce who guest stars on Coldplay's latest albumCREDIT: GETTY

It is a bright and shiny album full of the brash hooks and dynamic beats of modern pop. After working with Brian Eno in the past, Coldplay made the surprising choice this time to work with Norwegian production duo Stargate, renowned as hitmakers for Rihanna andBeyoncé (the latter guests on the album, along with Noel Gallagher). “Rock and pop is like chalk and cheese,” notes drummer Will Champion. “We instinctively, as a band, gravitate towards density. Our records are full of layers, strings, synths, twinkly bits, the whole lush world of real, comforting, big sounds that you can use to help communicate emotion. There is so much space and clarity on modern pop records. Stargate are brilliant at finding what’s important in a piece of music and letting everything else sit back.”

 

There has always been a sense of mission to Coldplay. “We would like to be behind the idea of togetherness and acceptance, rather than finger-pointing and against-ness,” Martin says. “My manifesto is to not give up on the idea of humans working together.”

 

Martin delivers this little homily with conviction, then shudders at the idea that it will reinforce notions of him as rock’s most starry-eyed idealist. He is a man given to making big statements, then immediately questioning them, prevaricating between self-belief and self-doubt. But for bassist Berryman, Martin’s emotional extremes are the essence of Coldplay. “If you know Chris, and spend every day with him, you realise that he’s genuinely bouncing off the walls with happiness, or almost inconsolable. So I feel that the music we’ve made is very true, it’s either up in the clouds or down in the dumps, and there’s not much in the middle.”

 

The key to the album may be a sample of Barack Obama singing Amazing Grace at a funeral after a mass shooting in South Carolina in June. “In a situation when he could have gone very revengeful and aggressive, he chose to do that, which was a powerful statement. That’s a good way of looking at life. Gracefully going through whatever you are going through.”

 

So how do you clear a sample of the American president? “I’m not sure he has a publishing company,” says Champion. “You have to call the White House. Or talk to Bono.” Martin is circumspect. “I asked a friend who was going to see him. And Obama said, 'I’m sure we can make that happen.’ ”

 

Like a lot of Coldplay’s finest work, the album is full of songs that will make most sense being sung aloud by fans in a stadium. “No amount of unchoreographed movement from four little men can unite 80,000 people like one good chorus,” says Martin.

 

 

He admits he can still have moments of panic on stage. “There is definitely a suspension of normality. The part of your personality you access to do a big concert is not the same part that’s just walking down the street every day. You have to believe, 'This is my job, we are awesome.’ And a couple of things can go wrong and freak you out, then you suddenly think, 'Oh s---, I’m just a boy from Devon, who the hell do I think I am?’ ”

 

Coldplay seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves. “It’s a very happy ship,” insists guitarist Jonny Buckland. “It’s practically a hovercraft!” jokes Martin. But after seven albums, selling more than 80 million copies, there has been talk about this being their final offering. “I think there’s a sense of a journey nearing its completion,” says Champion. “It’s not to say there’s not going to be another journey. But this is our end-of-term report. This is what we’ve learnt since our first record came out, the summary of how we have evolved as people, as friends and as a band.”

 

“We live in a world where you don’t know whether you are going to make it to tomorrow,” says Martin. “So it makes sense to approach whatever we are doing as if it is the last thing we are going to make.”

 

He admits to doubts about what the future could hold for the band. But it could just be creative exhaustion. “It’s like asking someone to do 10 more push-ups when they’ve just done 100. If this was our last album, we’d be OK with it. At this point, we’ve said what we have to say.”

 

 

x

damn, that's a bummer to see see coldplay say that. does that mean they have no interest in revisiting rock?

^Yep, just like Radiohead. They are too smart for that. Like one of my friends says, rock musicians are one the most boring persons in the world. "Imagine you sing the same record 100 times per year for 30-40 years". Boring as hell.

 

And usual story about "it could be our last album". No way. They are too assiduous and can't live without recording too long.

He admits to doubts about what the future could hold for the band. But it could just be creative exhaustion. “It’s like asking someone to do 10 more push-ups when they’ve just done 100. If this was our last album, we’d be OK with it. At this point, we’ve said what we have to say.”

This sentences say it all. They're done

Nice interview with lots of interesting tidbits. I especially liked Guy confirming the exuberance in the music is a genuine reflection of Chris´s exuberance hehe And yay to the "happy ship".

 

And I´ve never seen Coldplay as trying to invent something radically new so it kinda makes sense with how they feel about modern music. I would beg to differ about Coldplay not rocking though: they sure have rocked for more than 10 minutes hehe

 

No way they are done as a band. Chris needs to write to maintain his sanity :) And music is their life. Though yeah I can totally see how AHFOD is the end of a journey and that they want to stay and celebrate this phase for a while

I don't think they are done for good, but I expect a major gap between this album and the possibly next one. Will be their largest gap between one album to another. I think they're too big to be done after only 7 albums. I expect at least two more albums.But I expect the AHFOD world tour being their last huge tour around the world. They will probably want to spend more time with their families and children after this. My prediction is: Chris will collaborate with another artists producing and continue to writing songs for them, Guy, Jonny and Will dedicating time to theirs side projects too.

 

'We felt like rock music has been done,” says Chris Martin, apparently dropping the lid on 60 years of swaggering guitar bands. Contemplating the zesty pop tones of Coldplay’s new album, A Head Full of Dreams, Martin suggests “the future of music is in new sounds and new ways of treating vocals. We wanted to add those colours to our palette.” His bandmate Guy Berryman agrees: “There’s an awful lot of rock music already out there. I’m not sure there is anything left to add.”

 

 

Butbutbut . . .

 

You guys were so good at rock :(

But I expect the AHFOD world tour being their last huge tour around the world.

 

Jesus I hope not! haha They´r not even 40 :) I expect at least 10 more years of Coldplay in what form I am not sure, but touring will be part of it. They love it too much and so do we :)

inb4 next album is a "back to the roots" one

Disturbing claims and statements by the band. Rock music is not "done" and never will be. There are exceptional bands and musicians out there experimenting and creating superb rock records, still pushing boundaries and advancing creativity. They challenge their listeners with provocative and captivating music and could change entire generations' lives by scrutinizing all life matters. To question and doubt the spirit and power of rock music is bizarre and quite daft.

 

There is also a huge irony in that they claim there is not much to be done in the rock scene anymore, only for themselves to then choose to produce manufactured mainstream pop!!!! Absolutely insane interview. I don't know they're being delusional or stupid.

Wow, what a awkward and silly thing to say. Do they really live in a bubble? Sounds like they more and more just care about what is popular with big masses of people. Who cares if a certain genre is death (whatever that means? Rock sure aint death?!), music should all be about what comes out, and if the song should be recorded in an organic way with a raw guitar as a base then that's what needs to be done.

Thinking about any folk band/songwriter, their songs are all rock based.. right? Or is there something with my ears.

They seem to think in a strange and forced way now..

I don't think they'll continue woth pop (hopefully) but there will be no AROBTTH 2.0

I love Chris and the band.

But we should have learned how to take his interviews by now ;)

 

To me,their still one of my two favourite bands ever. And this will last as long as they gonna exsist.

 

And as long as theyre able to produce stuff like Up&Up im all happy.

I never once thought of Coldplay as an experimental band who pushes the envelope. I'm afraid anyone who thinks they are or have been is bound to be disappointed. My view anyway...

Forming the band in 1996, at the tail-end of Britpop and arguably the beginning of the end for rock music, he thinks “an advantage for our generation is that we see how things turned out for other musicians. The old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll lifestyle thing is great, but does it really make for great music? Does it make people happy? I don’t feel we’re embarrassed about being successful, but we don’t need the perm and the gold Rolex.”

 

On this note, I leave a very sad, but real letter by Scott Weiland's ex-wife (and mother of his teenage children) on Rolling Stone - he died ironically on the eve of AHFOD's release... In essence, he illustrates some aspects of the brilliance in Rock N Roll, but also pulls into focus the costs to some individuals who produce this brilliance but are unable to separate it from their life... RIP. :( Scott Weiland's Family: 'Don't Glorify This Tragedy'

 

Contrast this with Coldplay, who are like the diametrical opposite... As a fellow human being, I take Coldplay any day, even if their music never quite reaches the fiery levels / brilliance of some other rock musicians. This is what I mean when I say I don't want blood on my hands from the music I listen to...

 

I never once thought of Coldplay as an experimental band who pushes the envelope. I'm afraid anyone who thinks they are or have been is bound to be disappointed. My view anyway...

 

Fully agree with you on this point! They never were the most experimental, and it used to disturb me that I always found something someone else had already done before in pretty much anything I heard from them - they did tend to make it resonate better and more relatable (at least to me though) than the source, and I like using them as a pointer / taster to the music that's out there... Over time, the sounds become more established so that I no longer associate them with the original music anyway... So nowadays I no longer worry, and dig deeper to see what they are trying to tell us through their sound - I find that I'm usually rewarded :)

There are exceptional bands and musicians out there experimenting and creating superb rock records, still pushing boundaries and advancing creativity.

Names?

 

By the way I'm glad Chris overcame his private turbulence and now he seems relaxed and happy. But I'm wondering he is still a vegetarian like his ex?

But I expect the AHFOD world tour being their last huge tour around the world.

I hope not. They can perform stadium gigs, less concerts but the same revenue and audience. I'm perfectly OK with 60-80 gigs per tour. Can afford a trip to see them in Europe or US once in three year .

On this note, I leave a very sad, but real letter by Scott Weiland's ex-wife (and mother of his teenage children) on Rolling Stone - he died ironically on the eve of AHFOD's release... In essence, he illustrates some aspects of the brilliance in Rock N Roll, but also pulls into focus the costs to some individuals who produce this brilliance but are unable to separate it from their life... RIP. :( Scott Weiland's Family: 'Don't Glorify This Tragedy'

That letter is so sad. Poor kids [emoji17]

They're totally right on this though. Rock music (in the "classic" meaning of the word, i.e. purely guitar-bass-drums based music)is slowly dying. There are still very few "rock" bands/artists that make music that doesn't sound trite, unoriginal or boring and some of them have been heavily implementing electronic sounds in their latest works (think about Kasabian's 48:13, which was extremely good). Heck, most of the best albums released this year are electronic. That being said, I'm glad to see all the band member furtherly developing what they started with GS, and I mean messing around with synths and other instruments other than their own "main". I see them pushing this new sound they achieved with AFHOD even further in the future, and maybe we'll see them making an even weirder and "sophisticated" (for lack of a better term) pop in the vein, for example, of Gorillaz's Plasic Beach. But for the time being, this is all just speculation.

I dont like this... Like at all. We've still got some modern rock bands rocking it out on the top charts. Like Bastille (with a new album coming out next year), Imagine Dragons, And Onerepublic (Who are already on their way to releasing their LP4). If Rock music has nowhere to go, then how did the aforementioned bands' songs become hits?

 

How are Onerepublic and Bastille "rock"?

I dont like this... Like at all. We've still got some modern rock bands rocking it out on the top charts. Like Bastille (with a new album coming out next year), Imagine Dragons, And Onerepublic (Who are already on their way to releasing their LP4). If Rock music has nowhere to go, then how did the aforementioned bands' songs become hits?

 

Wow, I didn't agree with Chris's statement about rock being dead.. But if these are our examples of "rock", then yes it is dead. Lol

I dont like this... Like at all. We've still got some modern rock bands rocking it out on the top charts. Like Bastille (with a new album coming out next year), Imagine Dragons, And Onerepublic (Who are already on their way to releasing their LP4). If Rock music has nowhere to go, then how did the aforementioned bands' songs become hits?

Onerepublic and bastille are straight pop, maybe MAYBE pop rock.

I don't think rock is dead but it's definetly not doing so well now. Most rock songs are just wanna be's of the old days tunes. People need to reinvent rock not reintroduce old rock.

The first 10 good rock albums of this year:

Pinkshinyultrablast - Everything Else Matters

Mac DeMarco - Another One

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday

Pomegranates - Healing Power

Foals - What Went Down

The Maccabees - Marks To Prove It

Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.

Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool

Archive - Restriction

No Joy - More Faithful

 

Rock is not dead, we can say that the world of pop usic is growing faster, especially on the indie/alternative scene. Mainstream pop is going downhill: 10 years ago pop music was waaaay more meaningful amd musically richer than today's.

CP always took a look to mainstream and another to rock music. Now that their rock vein has gone they can only ruin their music formula by emulating this s* of mainstream electrodancepop of today, with embarassing lyrics and bad production

Like Bastille (with a new album coming out next year), Imagine Dragons, And Onerepublic

I wouldn't consider any of those bands rock-bands. Except maybe Imagine Dragons.

Chris, and coldplay members, how do you think Rock is dead, did you listen Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, alabama shakes?

Stop speaking shit.