All I Can Think About Is You

[The Archer]

It sounds like they recorded the groundwork for the song during soundchecks for the live shows. It has a raw feeling to it. Kinda like I'm listening to live version without the crowd. It's really good that second part.

[Cold003]

Great video

Lazy lyrics and generic beat

[lennyrott1]

Really shocked by the production... I give them credit for experimenting with Chris' vocals, but man this is a muddy, muddy recording. The beautiful piano bridge and guitar solo are very much shoved to the wayside for those watery synths which are far less beautiful. I like the drum/bass groove, but it isn't special enough to make ultra loud in my opinion. Agree with everyone else here that says it sounds like they mixed live takes with a more proper studio take...

 

That's my only huge criticism-and then maybe the weird shoe lyric?

 

But overall a much more interesting listen than much of AHFOD, lots of cool details. And kind of a trippy, weird song? It fits great with GS and its B-sides and Atlas.

[The_Blue_Room]

Amazing song- I like it better than anything on AHFOD- but as with Hypnotised, the lyrics are pretty weak and generic. What happened to the metaphor and wordsmith-ery of the VLV days?

[IneedYou23]

Sometimes, I'm amazed at how Jonny and Will's playing keeps getting washed out and pushed back in the production on certain songs. Especially when Jonny has a great guitar on the song or when Will is smashing the drums! This has been my one consistent critique of the boys for a while. I can barely hear Will's drumming on the last part of the song, and thats a shame because he is killing it, especially in the live videos I've seen. The sound of the drums aren't as powerful as they are live. I really hope they start working with someone who will push the guitars and drums to the front of the production. Or at least someone who can mix the instruments on the production better so they don't get lost in the production.

[Nie]

Listened to AICTAIY and here are my thoughts after hearing it 1x:

 

I NEED/WANT TO HEAR IT LIVE!!!

 

I actually like it. Chris's voice is a bit hard to decipher at some points due to the effects.

 

Very bass driven, what I already thought after hearing the snippet yesterday. Love the combination bass-drums and piano-guitar.

 

Abrupt end again - this seems to be Chris' favourite thing to do in this ERA.

 

At 2:38 I have a bit of Clocks feeling but overall the song leans to Atlas the most.

From then on it gets better too.

At 3:35 Jonny is doing it again with his guitar. [emoji173]

 

 

Oh, and it has a touch of I Ran Away: 1 2 3 [emoji16]

 

So far Kaleidoscope has 2 songs that I like. [emoji16]

I'm scared about the collaboration with Big Sean though.

[vico xt]

"Past the satellites and stars

Well they're moving us to Mars"

;)

 

[Krizer]

What a great video and song! Loving it. They seriously need to play this and Hypnotised on the tour! :D

 

The beginning gives a bit of All Your Friends vibe, piano part reminds of Clocks, 3.05 onwards of Paradise, and the last part of Atlas, ending comes quick like Birds. I really like that they are giving these new songs kind of a "live feeling" in them, first in Hypnotised we got "J!" and now we have "1 2 3".

[Stephie]

Absolutely loving this despite some weird production bits. As some of you already said it gives off vibes of different eras - the beginning feels almost like the early EPs to me and then there's Atlas in there somewhere (which I adore).

 

How do they always manage to put something out that I seem to exactly need at that time? I guess that's why they're still my favourites.

[[Coldplay]Andi]

Amazing song! Reminds me of "No more keeping my feet on the ground".

[chrimas4]

I just love this various-albums-encompassing sound!!

[yoyo2000]

0:26

this has to be the inspiration for the lyrics:laughing:

[coldplayisawesome]

man, thank god this video had the lyrics in it :joy: (which, btw, incredible style and animation in this video, i love it)

 

one thing i do like about Chris's vocal effects and just the way he is singing generally is that in the beginning it's suuuuper distorted/muffled and as the song goes on his words become much clearer, less echo-y, etc. which all fits with how the rest of the music sort of... folds into itself? i talked about this a bit in the EP thread, but i love how it feels like at the start all four boys are just playing their own things, all just happening to mesh well, but as the song goes on they slowly start working toward each other and eventually end up as one cohesive unit. it's like listening to a musical puzzle putting itself together. that moment when Chris sings "all i can think about is you" and Jonny's riff matches perfectly gets me every time :heart_eyes:

[WeddingDom]

I noticed yesterday that the song sounds much better if I listen to it on ny phone without headphones, I can hear all the instruments. With headphones it's great, too :p

[A Spell a Rebel Yell]

I was actually kind of surprised how well-produced this song felt on my ears, almost live-like. To me, this song is an instant classic, unlike Hypnotised which grows with time.

[wilkesy]

I agree with what The Archer alluded to earlier, the start really does sound like you're listening to a soundcheck.

Stunning song.

[cp3176]

Thoughts after the first listen:

 

The teases we were getting leading up to AHFOD hinted at the possibility of the band developing a completely new sound, pushing their boundaries in every way we could have imagined. On the release day of AOAL, though, those thoughts were demolished for a lot of people. Beyonce and Tove Lo collaborations were announced to be included on the album, and the lead single, to some, sounded like a poor attempt to recapture Mylo Xyloto's sound that ended up landing in the "generic", "bland", "poppy", and "lame" categories, among others. (Note: Not my opinion!) These new thoughts were unfortunately confirmed on December 4th, and for a lot of people on the forum, they got a far poppier and watered down experience than they thought they'd hear a few months back. Ever since (and ever since Mylo really), these people have been wishing for Coldplay to either return to their traditional melancholic piano-rock sound, or go even farther and explore diverse soundscapes as they once did with Viva.

 

When rumous of a collab with The Chainsmokers came about, many thought it was over for the band. Seemingly having turned into commercial sell-outs a long time ago, this appeared to be the final nail in the coffin for a band once crafting gorgeous, original, and unique music that came straight from the heart. To my surprise, a fair amount of people actually praised the song once it came out, despite some understandable backlash amongst it.

 

It all changed though, with the release of Hypnotised. A turnaround for the band, many people who had once seemed to turn their backs for good on these boys gathered hope upon listening to this track. Is it possible that these guys could turn this around for good? Will they leave silly pop music behind in favor of a far more challenging and unique direction? Could this EP change it all?

 

 

And here we are.

 

All I Can Think About Is You is potentially Coldplay's most unique song yet, delivering the soundscape so many have been longing for, for years. It's hard to think of another song like this, with a fuzzy, cloudy, dreamy, and dense production style featuring a repetitve, hypnotic bassline, a dreamy and swirling piano, vocal, and synth track, and a minimalist guitar where you can hear Jonny actually play the instrument, fitting in well with the calm and soothing atmospherics of everything else. The drum track is nothing special in the beginning, with Will providing a simple beat to go along with the song. However, he kills it in the last part of the song, with every instrument rising to a peak, making for a very energetic release that generates a sense of epic doom. This follows an Atlas-style buildup including a very unique progression with a doomful feel, led by the piano and accompanied with string synths. Drums appear in the second part, and specifically the hi-hat, which gradually gets louder and opens up, resulting in a building of energy. Guitar is also present here. Overall, this is a track that will delight many fans who opine that Coldplay has gone downhill the past few years, and rate Viva la Vida as their favorite album due to it's daringness to present to the world fresh, original, and unique songs, incorporating diverse influences from long ago while also attempting to form an entirely new style. Coldplay purists that like the first few albums for their melancholic feel, not caring for the fourth one as much won't be as pleased, but might still find the track a breath of fresh air, and a sign that Coldplay's days of making decent music aren't over.

 

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After a few listens, the track has already grown on me. I like how the intro isn't really happy, or sad, or anything. It isn't something you hear often. The buildup is ingenious, and despite the drums not being nearly as loud as I'd like it in the last part of the song, it's still great. This song's production is aboslutely fantastic, and I hope that everyone can at least acknowledge that this is a very large step up from the Stargate days. To be honest, it's probably one of the most unique production jobs I've ever heard. There's barely anything out there, at least to my knowledge, that sounds particularly like this. Everything sounds so fuzzy and cloudy, and there's hardly anything clear here, which I am very used to. I am accepting of this new style however, and I hope that Coldplay takes this sound and develops it for their next release. I'm sure a lot of us would die to hear a full album of songs centering around this sort of sound.

 

Now for the problems with this. The beat in the beginning could be better. Will does make up for it in the last part but those drums are buried way too low in the mix. I might make an alternate version where the last part is replaced with the live version, but the swirling kinds of sounds here aren't present there, so I might also find some other way to do it. Either way, that's probably the worst thing here. Lyrics are rather lacking in parts to the point where I cringe. Hey, at least they're not some dumb pop lyrics about some party or relationship, Anyway, that's about it. I'm sure this song will grow on me over time, and I greatly applaud Coldplay for turning themselves around, and redeeming themselves with this after AHFOD artistically. It's really why I can appreciate music like this so much more than mainstream pop music, because although I might prefer a mainstream song more, I'll always look up to music like this because even though it might not sound "great" for some, it looks to create something new, fresh, and original, which is what the mainstream desperately needs after the development of a super generic pop sound since 2013 where the same synths and beats are used across just about every song, resulting in almost every song sounding like it comes from the same album. I'm not saying I don't like it, becasue I really do. It just doesn't hit that sweet spot for me. It is right somewhere around it... and music like this doesn't really have to hit that spot anyway.

 

So: It isn't my favorite song, and I rate it lower than Hypnotised mostly because of Hypnotised's strong emotive senses, but it and this definitely take Coldplay a large step in the right direction.

[nvdmm]

An okay song totally ruined by the mix and production, once again! What a terrible result!

[dieselbenz]

Not going to do any in-depth analysis, since to be honest I really miss the days when all that I thought about was whether something moved me or not, and this song makes me feel like those days. I don't know that it sounds exactly like older Coldplay particularly but it makes me feel similar to the way that stuff did. Not that nothing else since then has, but damn this is a tune that moves me. Between this and Hypnotised I'm really pleased. I've accepted that they've changed, and am happy to enjoy things that are a little outside my wheelhouse and just roll with it, but man does it feel good to have something "for me" pop up when I really, really need it.

[Batman]

man, thank god this video had the lyrics in it :joy: (which, btw, incredible style and animation in this video, i love it)

 

one thing i do like about Chris's vocal effects and just the way he is singing generally is that in the beginning it's suuuuper distorted/muffled and as the song goes on his words become much clearer, less echo-y, etc. which all fits with how the rest of the music sort of... folds into itself? i talked about this a bit in the EP thread, but i love how it feels like at the start all four boys are just playing their own things, all just happening to mesh well, but as the song goes on they slowly start working toward each other and eventually end up as one cohesive unit. it's like listening to a musical puzzle putting itself together. that moment when Chris sings "all i can think about is you" and Jonny's riff matches perfectly gets me every time :heart_eyes:

An okay song totally ruined by the mix and production, once again! What a terrible result!

My opinion perfectly summarized by these two posts.

I couldn't understand a thing the first time I listened to the song, but that didn't really bother me because, well, in the end we're all here for the music, not the lyrics.

After I read the lyrics, the word "shoe" is the only thing that stuck in my head :|

 

What I actually like about the song is the way Chris' voice is so low and disorted it actually sounds like an instrument as well, rather than a human voice trying to tell us something. Kinda reminds me of A Spell A Rebel Yell.

When he raises his voice towards the last third of the song, I got all tingly because I felt some heavy X&Y vibes. A popular youtube comment describes it rather well:

 

I've been waiting this for years. This sound. This Coldplay (...) The real, old school like, mixed with X&Y having a baby with GS and AROBTTH sound.

 

Funnily enough, like with all new Coldplay songs, I only really enjoy the last half/third of the song, the rest is.. kinda forgettable, unfortunately.

 

But I'm already getting the impression that the more I listen to the song, the more I like it.

 

The music video is absolutely delightful though! Reminds me a lot of old cartoons, also some nice 80's styles going on, especially the way the fonts are used. I also love the random jellyfish and deep sea creatures floating around, and how one of the most modern things humanity has brought up so far (the space suit) actually ends up fossilized in the ground and builds the foundation for the rest of the music video (where everything starts breaking apart. LOVELY D: )

 

That was my longest post in the last 392402 years, jEsUs. I need to sit down...

[karvi22]

I didn't like this new song as much as I liked Hypnotised. This is not bad, but it sounds like a mix of other songs that doesn't really move me. Maybe in time I'll learn to appreciate it, but not for now.

[iamsue]

Rats, my connection just paused, and I lost my post! I re-watched the video. I still don't like it and don't see its fit to the song. I know most of you will disagree. A funny reason may be that I HATE fish!! I am actually afraid of them!! So the jellyfish and other fish just creep me out. I love the song, and agree with those who say the latter parts are better. I SO love the Hypnotised video.

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

[Harondor]

Definitely a good tune where the band tries successfully again the 2 parts type of song like Fix You, 42 or Up With the Birds.

I'm disappointed by the abrupt ending. It's so frustrating !

[Draco]

I do agree with the X and Y vibes. I had a flashback to an old twisted logic concert that I saw on YouTube the moment I heard Will's drumroll towards the end. The explosive "rockier" Coldplay is something I would like to hear more of personally. I want to hear Jonny and Will wail on their instruments, while maintaining a coherent sound, and I know Will doesn't like to "show off" on his drums but I think he could bring out a lot of hidden potential if he pushes himself.

 

I also heard a Paradise ambience in there.

[gai]

in the first half, beat a little too reminiscent of teardrop