Hypnotised - first song off Kaleidoscope

[cp3176]

Wow.

This is probably the most creative thing they've done in a very, very long time. I can't see how some people call it "bland" and "generic", the only thing that is so about this song is the the first set of lyrics in the chorus. I absolutely love how this song builds up, and especially in the last 2 minutes I was bordering on tears.

 

Artistically, Coldplay have proven with this song that "Everything's Not Lost". As much as I like songs like "Something Just Like This" I will admit songs like what Coldplay have released for us today sound so much more unique, talented, and original. While I really do enjoy their collab with Chainsmokers, it sounds very unoriginal in comparison to this masterpiece. I am seeing Oldplayers all over that are super excited about this song.

 

This type of production is what AHFOD was meant to be. I feel Stargate's production really held the band back from what this era was meant to be. With no Stargate, Coldplay are able to make masterpieces like this that truly mesmerize us.. I think this is the "dreamy production" that we were all hoping for from this era.

 

I hope this song gets #1 and truly revolutionizes the future of pop music forever. Yes, there are definitely pop elements in here but it's presented in such a unique style... I can't find many songs that sound like this, and along with the emotional aspect of this Coldplay truly scored big here. Other than a few of the lyrics, nothing in this song sounds bland or generic in any way, shape, or form to my ears... all I hear is what we all wanted from AHFOD.

 

I am hoping for more of this for the future in Coldplay. I seen how some people thought that this EP would likely show no progression from AHFOD... I knew there would because at this point the rest of the songs will be released almost exactly a year and a half after the album came out.

 

Absolutely fantastic job boys.

[cp3176]

but listening to it with my headphones is indescribable

 

This.

 

I guarantee you will not get the full effect of this song listening to it from a poor quality speaker, or even worse a phone speaker. My first listen was using earphones.

 

For anyone who still doesn't quite like this song and hasn't listened to it with headphones, use headphones or earbuds. I guarantee just like with any other song it will sound light years better.

[guy42]

This is a perfect blend of sad/bitter and hopeful/sweet. I love the slow beat, sort of puts you in a trance-like state, or should I say, makes you hypnotized... Very dreamy, I don't think there's a similar song that they've made.

[lennyrott1]

Obligatory Review--

 

Coldplay continues to confuse me with their genre choices, but in a good way. This track is Dream/Glam pop, very reminiscent of 80's ballads in its atmosphere, but also very Beatles-esque. The swelling synths and looping xylophone are beautiful and punctuated by some hard-hitting piano, even if a bit reminiscent to Atlas or Amazing Day. The intro to the track is jangly, dreamy, amazing. Perhaps the best intro to a track in the AHFOD era. Jonny's guitar is perfectly mixed throughout--sounding like Coldplay in 2004 between AROBTTH and X&Y. Guy and Will provide a great rhythm-scape that is classy AF. And that outro...wow. Davide Rossi must have provided those strings, they are just stunning...

 

My only big complaint of this track is Chris. I like how they mixed his voice, but lyrically it is very worn, just like Fun or Miracles. He doesn't use one new metaphor in this track: rust, rain, car broken down, soaring as a bird, eyes causing you to feel. The only new lyric is "learnin from the news, a guidebook to the blues." If you are wondering where he got that, its from a Freddie North Song and later sampled by Kanye and Jay-Z on Murder for Excellence (great track btw). It is cringy. Also is he referring to Trip as in "tripping" as in drugs? Finally, during the epic swell at the end of strings, guitar, synths, etc., Chris is hooting and hollering (as usual) and distracting from the great music--why????

 

I have this complaint about songs like Amazing Day and Miracles and pretty much everything post AROBTTH. Try finding one Coldplay single without whooo hoo hoo, or oooh ooooh oooh. It is a great pop trick, but sometimes, you just got to let it rest and let the music do the talking.

 

Favorite Part: When Will's drumming just slowly thumps in after the first chorus and fills your headphones with classy cymbals.

Least Favorite: Chris repeating chorus one more time when strings come in (I want to hear those strings more loudly!)

 

A very welcome first taste of the Kaleidoscope EP. Not a perfect track, but overall love this thing. I could see it on an album with All Your Friends, Ghost Story, Miracles, Amazing Day, Up & Up, Fun, Crest of Waves. Definitely classic Coldplay in its structure and tone. Sounds like Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool but the pop version haha.

[cp3176]

This is a perfect blend of sad/bitter and hopeful/sweet. I love the slow beat, sort of puts you in a trance-like state, or should I say, makes you hypnotized... Very dreamy, I don't think there's a similar song that they've made.

 

I don't think there's many songs that sound like this at all, really. Definitely unique for the band, and overall a very original song.

[cp3176]

Something else I was gonna say, it also sounds like they took Amazing Day and progressed it into a masterpiece (I already think the original is a masterpiece) but in the sense of originality... There's definitely something new, yet you can hear influences from way back when all over the place. Definitely digging it.

[jc90]

cool review Lenny. yeah, if I had a complaint it would be the lyrics. getting a bit old with the birds and whatnot. i've kinda made my peace with Chris not being a great lyricist at this point though.

[Durk]

i like how the drums come in - really understated - then build.

[coldplayisawesome]

ive literally had it on repeat since i found out this morning. repeat on at work. repeat in the car for an hour. repeat on in the shower.

 

but listening to it with my headphones is indescribable

 

This.

 

I guarantee you will not get the full effect of this song listening to it from a poor quality speaker, or even worse a phone speaker. My first listen was using earphones.

 

For anyone who still doesn't quite like this song and hasn't listened to it with headphones, use headphones or earbuds. I guarantee just like with any other song it will sound light years better.

 

ahhh especially when you listen with headphones and watch the video. that's how i heard it for the first time and it was a very magical experience. :heart::heart:

 

Also is he referring to Trip as in "tripping" as in drugs? Finally, during the epic swell at the end of strings, guitar, synths, etc., Chris is hooting and hollering (as usual) and distracting from the great music--why????

 

my brain first went to "trip" like "stumble," like if he gets so enamored that he loses any basic sense of balance :p like Clumsy by Fergie

[jc90]

i like how the drums come in - really understated - then build.

yeah, and it came in on a weird beat as well iirc. very interesting

[ColdplayingfromKansas]

cool review Lenny. yeah, if I had a complaint it would be the lyrics. getting a bit old with the birds and whatnot. i've kinda made my peace with Chris not being a great lyricist at this point though.

 

To be fair, he used to be one of the best (ARoBttH, Violet Hill, I Ran Away), and I think this is a solid offering. Certainly better than the lyrics on AHFoD. What repetition of lyrics there are I tend not to mind since the EP is kind of an extension of AHFoD. We had a couple of "feet not touching the ground" lyrics spread between Viva and Prospekt, after all.

 

Ninja edit: One thing I find interesting is Chris's increasing reliance on lyrics that evoke imagery. If you look back at Parachutes, ARoBttH, and even X&Y and Viva a little bit, there's not a whole lot of solid imagery. It's all very abstract and left up to the listener to figure out what he means. And even when concrete imagery was used (like in Cemeteries of London, Green Eyes, and ARoBttH), it feels more like the images and circumstances are metaphorical. I feel like that has a lot to do with why a good portion of the forums feel that his lyrics have taken a dip in quality since the "Oldplay" days. We're given lyrics that are very much more literal and therefore leave less up to us to figure out and attach our own personal meanings to. Just a thought.

[karvi22]

I just came here to say that this song is one of the most wonderful masterpieces I've listened to in a long time... absolutely amazing!! This is what I wanted to hear from my boys (I really didn't like Something Just Like This and I was a little bit disappointed haha)

 

I'm very busy during these months and I really miss coming to this place, hope I can be back so soon to talk about this beautiful band... they give a lot of inspiration and hope to my life.

 

Hope you guys are all ok :)

[jc90]

Lyrics from the MV 'cause i'm bored:

 

Been rusting in the rubble

Running to a faint

Need a brand new coat of paint

 

I found myself in trouble

Thinking 'bout what ain't

Never gonna be a saint

 

Saying, float like an eagle

Fall like the rain

Pouring to put out the pain

 

Oh again and again

 

Now i'm hyp, hypnotised

Yeah I trip when I look in your eyes

Oh i'm hyp, hypnotised

Yeah I slip and i'm mesmerized

 

Its easy to be lethal

I'm learning from the news

It's a guidebook for the blues

 

Saying, it's the very same steeple

People want to choose

They just see it from different views

 

And threading the needle

Fixing my flame

Oh now i'm moved to exclaim

 

Oh again and again

 

How i'm hyp, hypnotised

Yeah i trip when i look in your eyes

Oh i'm hyp, hypnotised

Yeah I lift and i'm mesmerized

 

(Jay!)

 

Oh again and again

 

Oh i'm hyp, hypnotised

Yeah I lift to a permanent high

Oh i'm hyp, hypnotised

It was dark

Now it's sunrise.

[jc90]

that part when he sings 'yeah i lift' makes me lol, like, brah do you even lift?

[coldplayisawesome]

To be fair, he used to be one of the best (ARoBttH, Violet Hill, I Ran Away), and I think this is a solid offering. Certainly better than the lyrics on AHFoD. What repetition of lyrics there are I tend not to mind since the EP is kind of an extension of AHFoD. We had a couple of "feet not touching the ground" lyrics spread between Viva and Prospekt, after all.

 

i don't think Chris has ever been consistently great at writing lyrics or at least he has always used certain tricks that maybe just seem more apparent to us now than they did before. the ending of Everything's Not Lost for example is just this: "come on yeah, ah ah yeah, sing out yeah" over and over again. we have "i was lost, i was lost, crossed lines i shouldn't have crossed, i was lost, oh yeah"

then some interesting lines like "i wanna live in a wooden house where making more friends would be easy" but honestly what the hell does that even mean? :P

"a whisper, a whisper, a whisper, a whisper, a whisper"

"and the hardest part was letting go not taking part, was the hardest part"

 

i think the quality sometimes has to do with how the lyrics feel within the song itself, and not the lyrics on their own. so maybe some of the words he uses seem out of place either coming out of his mouth or just out of place in terms of the general feel of the song :shrug:

 

 

 

and don't forget the original, No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground ;)

[ColdplayingfromKansas]

i don't think Chris has ever been consistently great at writing lyrics or at least he has always used certain tricks that maybe just seem more apparent to us now than they did before. the ending of Everything's Not Lost for example is just this: "come on yeah, ah ah yeah, sing out yeah" over and over again. we have "i was lost, i was lost, crossed lines i shouldn't have crossed, i was lost, oh yeah"

then some interesting lines like "i wanna live in a wooden house where making more friends would be easy" but honestly what the hell does that even mean? :p

"a whisper, a whisper, a whisper, a whisper, a whisper"

"and the hardest part was letting go not taking part, was the hardest part"

 

i think the quality sometimes has to do with how the lyrics feel within the song itself, and not the lyrics on their own. so maybe some of the words he uses seem out of place either coming out of his mouth or just out of place in terms of the general feel of the song :shrug:

 

and don't forget the original, No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground ;)

 

I agree, there have been a handful of songs on every album that aren't exactly the best lyric-wise (the ones you pointed out being good examples), but it seems like the ratio of songs with good lyrics to songs with bad lyrics has been becoming increasingly skewed toward the "bad" side with the past couple of albums. If nothing else, they're becoming more cliché (murky as the meanings of some of those older lyrics are, you can't argue that "I wanna live in a wooden house" isn't original at least :joy: ).

 

And ah yes, how could I forget that one. A classic from before the millennium!

[coldplayisawesome]

I agree, there have been a handful of songs on every album that aren't exactly the best lyric-wise (the ones you pointed out being good examples), but it seems like the ratio of songs with good lyrics to songs with bad lyrics has been becoming increasingly skewed toward the "bad" side with the past couple of albums. If nothing else, they're becoming more cliché (murky as the meanings of some of those older lyrics are, you can't argue that "I wanna live in a wooden house" isn't original at least :joy: ).

 

And ah yes, how could I forget that one. A classic from before the millennium!

 

yeah, i don't know. i feel like Coldplay's lyrics have always been cheesy and now it's just cheesy in a different way but in a way that a lot of people like less :P your assessment of the imagery vs abstraction probably does affect it a lot, too.

[dieselbenz]

Yes, so glad I'm not the only one thinking this - when I first heard it, I immediately thought Jonny's guitar sounds like David Gilmour's style in Pink Floyd here. Cool !

 

I thought the same about the guitar and that is the ULTIMATE compliment from me. And it does have a bit of a Momentary Lapse of Reason feel to me.

 

On a whole: I LOVE THIS SONG. I really can't even say how much I love it. Just yesterday I was feeling a little sad about missing the older Coldplay sound, not for lack of appreciation of the new, but just sorta feeling nostalgic lately and missing those days of my life. I liked SJLT and was looking forward to the EP no matter what, but wasn't really expecting something to hit me this much. I woke up to all these notifications about the new song and put it on to listen on my drive to work not knowing what to expect ... I cried the whole drive just listening to it on a loop (driving around crying is what I want most out of music lol). I think it has elements of their newer sound as well as old, and just blends it all so beautifully and powerfully. And I just love that guitar. Just wow.

[WeddingDom]

I agree about the lyrics. I mean, how many times has Chris rhymed "rain" with "pain" and "again"?

 

And the feeling he describes (some sort of out-of-body experience) is the same one he describes in almost every song on AHFOD (Miracles included).

[coldplayisawesome]

we should challenge Chris to write a bunch of songs with ZERO rhymes in them, they seem to be holding him back most :P

[dieselbenz]

This.

 

I guarantee you will not get the full effect of this song listening to it from a poor quality speaker, or even worse a phone speaker. My first listen was using earphones.

 

For anyone who still doesn't quite like this song and hasn't listened to it with headphones, use headphones or earbuds. I guarantee just like with any other song it will sound light years better.

 

This is why I waited until I was in my car this morning to listen, even though I was tempted to hit play as soon as I rolled over and saw the notifications on my phone. I can't wait until I finish fixing my car with the really nice sound system, just to listen to this.

[cp3176]

ahhh especially when you listen with headphones and watch the video. that's how i heard it for the first time and it was a very magical experience. :heart::heart:

 

Same!

 

 

I agree about the lyrics. I mean, how many times has Chris rhymed "rain" with "pain" and "again"?

 

And the feeling he describes (some sort of out-of-body experience) is the same one he describes in almost every song on AHFOD (Miracles included).

 

To be fair, KEP is still in the same era as AHFOD, How many times did they talk about "now my feet won't touch the ground" or something like that between the EP and the actual album?

Also, Chris has always had a thing with birds and just being "up". There are countless Coldplay lyrics about "up" or "birds" or something of the sort.

 

 

This is why I waited until I was in my car this morning to listen, even though I was tempted to hit play as soon as I rolled over and saw the notifications on my phone. I can't wait until I finish fixing my car with the really nice sound system, just to listen to this.

 

I'd even say a really good car sound system would be even better than headphones or earbuds. The sound system in the truck is absolutely outstanding and I can't wait till I get to blast this one, it's seriously so amazing.

[dieselbenz]

 

I'd even say a really good car sound system would be even better than headphones or earbuds. The sound system in the truck is absolutely outstanding and I can't wait till I get to blast this one, it's seriously so amazing.

 

The car is absolutely my top choice for first listen. I had a great sound system installed in my car a few year ago (right after VLV came out actually) and it's been worth every penny. It's such an immersive feel, plus I love driving. I've had that car in pieces since May so it's painful not having it for all these new music moments. I'm driving my dad's car now though and it has a nice Bose system, albeit with a speaker disconnected due to amp issues ... I can't complain. But yeah, I'm already dreaming of the day I can crank this on my favorite speakers and with nice clean bass, oh man it will be divine.

[IneedYou23]

Look, I've been a fan since the very beginning. I've seen this band grow and progress. I might not have always liked the direction they took sometimes on certain songs or albums, but I embrace the fact that they don't like to repeat themselves. One thing I have learned from them is progression, not just in music, but you can apply it to life as well. I fell in love with them because music was presented to me in a way I have never heard before. I heard the most beautiful melodies I had ever heard. I found Coldplay at the right time my life.

 

There was one song that I automatically felt an instant connection to the first time I heard it, and that was The Scientist. I just was able to fully relate to it at that time in my life and felt like it was sent to me for a reason, and thats the beauty of music, thats how it can make you feel, as if that one song was written for just you.

 

Hypnotised it simply beautiful. It's Coldplay. Just the boys playing together. Chris' piano playing, Jonny's classic guitar sounds, Will's drumming marching along, and Guy subtly making the song complete. For only the second time, I have instantly felt a strong connection to a song on the first listen. The melodies are so beautiful I really can't explain it, I almost nearly cried tears of joy, that's how moved I was when listening to this. I have always felt that Chris is one of the greatest melodist ever. If you take the time to just pay attention to a lot of his vocal melodies, they are truly amazing. I really love the vocal melody in Hypnotised. Maybe it's because of where I am at in my life right now, going through a transition, I can relate to the lyrics and it makes it that much more special to me.

 

Im not here to criticize Chris lyrics or what not, what's the point? This is a beautiful song and I wouldn't be doing it justice if I was critiquing things I honestly have no idea about. I would be doing myself an injustice, because this song is simply beautiful and I will enjoy it!

[AMDB9]

The way this song is in my phone, it comes alphabetically after Clocks. And I noticed after accidentaly hitting the back button that the beginning of this song (and the piano/xylophone riff throughout) is like reverse Clocks because it goes up instead of down. (I don't know the correct musical term for that)