Los Unidades

[arushofjacktothehead]

Who is Danny Ocean?

 

Frank Ocean's younger brother? :joy:

[driftaguy]

Just a thought, could Car Kids and Music of the Spheres have been alternate band names for Los Unidades in case the trademark was denied for the name Los Unidades? Seems weird that they applied to register trademarks for those names and no other songs.

[The Jordanator]

I reckon we will get some remixes released especially for E-Lo and Voodoo

[vico xt]

Just a thought, could Car Kids and Music of the Spheres have been alternate band names for Los Unidades in case the trademark was denied for the name Los Unidades? Seems weird that they applied to register trademarks for those names and no other songs.

 

Or maybe they are names for other side projects

[I ran away]

"How do/you do/that voodoo/that you do/oh how do/you do/that voodoo/that you do" is annoyingly stuck in my head ! :mad:

[The Jordanator]

"How do/you do/that voodoo/that you do/oh how do/you do/that voodoo/that you do" is annoyingly stuck in my head ! :mad:

 

Trololol

[mboy114]

"How do/you do/that voodoo/that you do/oh how do/you do/that voodoo/that you do" is annoyingly stuck in my head ! :mad:

Gooooooood Anakin Gooood. Let the hate FLOOOOOOW Through you. :joy:

[Green Cap Man]

"How do/you do/that voodoo/that you do/oh how do/you do/that voodoo/that you do" is annoyingly stuck in my head ! :mad:

E-o-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo

[Elly]

I just scrolled through the video of the Global Citizen Festival in Johannesburg and I realized that the songs on this EP are truly rooted in African music and thus well suited to be sung in South Africa. When Chris sang E-Lo together with Pharrell Williams it fitted the occasion, and the predominantly black audience responded well to it. The same with 'Timbuktu', which he sang together with Cassper Nyovest and Stormzy. Chris's voice fitted in with the voices of the other singers, but he really can't dance! He also played the piano to Kathey Musgraves 'Rainbow'.

No mention was made of 'Los Unidades'. Chris opened the festival just saying 'I am Chris Martin', and Pharrell Williams introduced him as 'Chris Martin from Coldplay' . As a curator it is mainly up to him to contact the musicians for the festival. I think he did a great job choosing mainly 'African-sounding' music, because the audience seemed to like all the musicians. The EP by 'Los Unidades' will sell well in Africa.

Besides, the anagram of 'Los Unidades' - which someone found our earlier, namely 'Unsold Songs' - might well have been in Coldplay's mind. As it is a charity EP, they won't get money for it.

[jc90]

Relistening to them all, I still like Rise Up the most even though Los Unidades is not actually in it. But now I think i like E-Lo the most! Like I Ran Away said, its annoyingly stuck in my head, lol!

[The Jordanator]

Relistening to them all, I still like Rise Up the most even though Los Unidades is not actually in it. But now I think i like E-Lo the most! Like I Ran Away said, its annoyingly stuck in my head, lol!

 

Ditto

[the_escapist]

My favorite song of the EP is Voodoo!

[merril]

When Chris sang E-Lo together with Pharrell Williams it fitted the occasion, and the predominantly black audience responded well to it. The same with 'Timbuktu', which he sang together with Cassper Nyovest and Stormzy. Chris's voice fitted in with the voices of the other singers

 

Yes, Chris went well together with all the artists he sang with. When he is not with Coldplay he keeps himself nicely in the background and doesn't jump around like crazy. My favourite song on the EP is 'Timbuktu', I can't get it out of my head.

[TealAppeal]

I cannot decide what's truly my favorite. I do think Voodoo is slightly more of my musical tastes then E-Lo. Both are enjoyable in various ways.

[MosesTheMarshmallow]

Just found out what that one bit of E-Lo is!! Nice sample/homage! It's Mother Miriam! :)

[Gideon_Mx]

Just found out what that one bit of E-Lo is!! Nice sample/homage! It's Mother Miriam! :)

It's pretty relaxing music, actually. I never listen to African music but this makes me feel relaxed in a way and I don't know why.

[I ran away]

Trololol

 

Pleased to meet you, Trololol

 

Gooooooood Anakin Gooood. Let the hate FLOOOOOOW Through you. :joy:

 

Oh, I am so very sorry I made a negative comment about a song you like. I sincerely hope this didn't upset your particular world view and ruin your week ?

[mboy114]

Pleased to meet you, Trololol

 

 

 

Oh, I am so very sorry I made a negative comment about a song you like. I sincerely hope this didn't upset your particular world view and ruin your week ?

You're good my friend, twas only making a joke hahaha

[cp3176]

I bet you've (or some of you who know me) have been waiting around for me to give my opinions on these new songs, by the new Coldplay (Los Unidades).

Yes, I heard these songs as soon as they came out. Heard all the songs off the EP as soon as they came out, too. Just didn't get around to posting my opinions on them here (well I did a week ago, but I accidentally closed my window and didn't get back to it till now, and because the draft saving feature is trash it didn't save the 4 paragraph long post I made... ughhhhh have to do it again)

 

Anyway, a disclaimer before I note any of my opinions on these songs: Please don't get offended when I say I don't like a particular song, I am glad that they did this for a good cause and all the boys, not just our frontman Chris Martin, have proven to be interested in getting involved in charity work. That being said, here goes:

 

Stargate - Rise Up (ft. Nelson Mandela): 3 out of 5 I'm aware this doesn't appear to have the Los Unidades (Coldplay) listed on it, at least not in the title, as contributers, and is the only song off the album having that distinction. Thought I'd give my thoughts on it anyway, as its production is similar to the other songs on the album, and I'm not sure, possibly the boys did contribute to it, but aren't credited (which I think is something they don't really do, but anyways). It's actually a decent song, I like the main melody and surprisingly for a producer like Stargate that sample or loop or whatever sounds like it was recorded a while ago. Guess even mainstream producers can surprise us, if even mildly, sometimes. Besides, I'm not a total hater of pop music like some people on here, just the really cheap, uninspired, untalented lame pop (*ahem*Girls Like you*ahem*). I like those echoey sounding parts to the song too, gives the song an otherwise really neat vibe. I surely appreciate the inclusion of Nelson Mandela's words over the otherwise instumental track (and his mentioning in the title, so we all know who the speaker is); it's a great way to set the African theme for the album, to open with who is among Africa's most important icons when it comes to issues like those attempting to be resolved by the Global Citizen movement. Overall, it's decent. Nothing spectacular, as I'd expect from a more pop-focused song from a pop-based producer, but it's definitely not bad at all.

 

Los Unidades & Pharrell Williams - E-Lo (ft. Jozzy): 3.5 out of 5 Alright, the first song off the album (and the first released) to feature Coldplay on it. Whoops, my mistake.. Los Unidades. I'm gonna be honest, before I even heard the song I thought it'd be straight garbage because of the inclusion of Pharrell, but when I took a listen to it (why wouldn't I, it's Coldplay anyway!) I was actually proven wrong. People can say this is a sellout, lame song all they want (not like these people don't realize Coldplay has sold out before, at least in their opinions) and it certainly isn't as densely produced as some of their usual songs, but in my opinion they were able to fuse African influences into this song in a unique way and still retain their "good music" integrity. Most pop songs that try to do this are less than great and usually end up being really generic and lame, but this manages to pull it off. I like it, I'm feeling the groove. Sure, all we hear Chris saying in the chorus is "elololololololo" but I'm not really the type of person to complain about them making random noises for singing sounds. As long as the song has some lyrics with real meaning, I can get along with it as it's still a catchy, good melody, as is what happened in this song. Even then, I wouldn't really mind; sure, the lyrics of a song are important when they're there, but I don't mind the inclusion of things like these into the song. In my opinion, they just serve to enhance the quality of the song when used properly (which, to be honest, is most of the time; it's more a matter of when they don't use it properly that bugs me). It's a style we've never really heard from Coldplay before; I really enjoy those background short-synth sounds in the background, they compliment the African-style drumming very well! I'm glad to see Will Champion play around with legitimately unique styles (if that was him who came up with the idea), and I also like the distant background electronic elements in the song too. They do sound more like the "mainstream" samples we usually hear in normal pop music, but the way they're used I think stands out enough for it to sound good. (I don't mind "mainstream" sounding songs either, but we all know we want more from Coldplay than just that, and I'm glad they didn't just resort to completely selling out like some bands might). I do think what the song would benefit from is some denser, more energetic production near the end of the song in the last chorus; whenever I hear this song in my head I always hear it with more instruments near the ending, particularly a Jonny guitar solo with the same/similar melody as Chris' "e-lo"s throughout the song in the chorus. When I listen to the song, which honestly has only been a few times so far, I always feel like there is something missing at the end (it's not surprising, really, seeing as pop music since around 2013 has became progressively more sparsely produced, with more cheaper-sounding sounds replacing better sounds throughout). Anyway, not complaining too much. Overall, the song's good. Again, nothing truly spectacular, and again I wouldn't expect it from a pop song in this style, but hey, Coldplay pulled off a decent effort nonetheless!

 

Cassper Nyovest & Los Unidades - Timbuktu (ft. Stormy and Jess Kent): 2.3 out of 5 I'm going to have to say, this is my least favorite song off the EP, and it's not just because it happens to be the "worst" song even though it's good; I actually don't really like the song that much at all. This is more of what I was talking about when I'm talking about more "normal", sparsely produced modern electropop music (although this song isn't as bad as some recent songs). Quite disappointed, to be honest. The only part I really like in the song is the chorus when the vocoded Chris comes in with a decent melody, which is unfortunately mostly absent from the rest of the song, against Coldplay tradition. I'll be honest, I've had Chris singing "Timmmmmbukkktuuuu" in my head every now and again from when I first listened to the song. I've listened to it a couple times, like all the other songs, and I'll admit it's grown on me a bit, but still definitely not Coldplay at their best. I do recognize there are at least 3 other people involved in the making of this song (I have more to say on the topic of excessive music collaborations later on in this post, in my overall thoughts about the EP), none of who I've heard before. Because the only good part in the song is the chorus with Chris, and the verses really aren't great at all, it's most definitely the other's influence in the song that was to my distaste (I don't buy the concept that Coldplay can make a song this bad on their own, lol). I've actually noticed a lot of people on here say this is a song they like, and even their favorite song off the album, and I do see where they can be coming from, but the reason I got into Coldplay was because they had more than just poppy catchy music. They had something unique to them, they were the first consistently good band I'd heard in their music (I have a whole long story about how I discovered Coldplay, won't be saying it here, but possibly I'll make a post on it someday. I already think I have somewhere on the forum.. if you want to, you can always look for it! Lol) On the other hand, this type of music is not what I like to see from Coldplay; it's little more than just your everyday generic melody-lacking energy-lacking all-focused-on-catchiness pop song, which is precisely the type of music I was attempting to avoid by listening to Coldplay. Despite me saying all this, I do think the general sounds used in the song do stand out a bit from what's usually heard on the radio (not as bright or "up"? Not really sure how to describe it) but otherwise, it's your run of the mill generic pop song that could easily be played as background music on the radio. Honestly, this song reminds me a lot of Charlie Puth's "Attention" now that I think about it (which is quite a bit better song in my opinion by the way; didn't like it at first, but it's really grown on me since then, and although again it's nothing spectacular, it has a certain catchiness and enough content in the song for me to like it a decent), they have similar production styles. Possibly this song might grow on me if I give it enough time. That's honestly what I find about a lot of pop music; songs like "Closer" by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey, and the previously mentioned "Atttention" by Charlie Puth are songs I both despised at first, but over the course of several months, I actually came to like them! Although neither are spectacular, they're still both good, fun, enjoyable pop songs, particularly Closer as it's more energetic and fun, despite the lyrical content being sub-par as expected from The Chainsmokers. It's just good fun. Anyway, we'll see whether my opinion on this song changes over the next few months. For now, though, it's not what I want to hear from Coldplay. (I guess I might not hate the song as much had it not been from a rebranded Coldplay, (I guess the normal Coldplay would have been worse, more information on this on the "Overall" section of this post) but either way I guess it's just not my thing).

 

Stargate & Los Unidades - Voodoo (ft. Tiwa Savage, Wizkid, Danny Ocean and David Guetta): 3.7 out of 5 I'm gonna be honest, when I first seen this song's title I immediately thought of the song by the same name by Godsmack. I knew it wouldn't be anything like it considering the poppier theme of this EP, which is disappointing, but it actually turned out to be my favorite song from the EP anyways! I know most people on this board don't like EDM at all, but I personally find it far better than modern pop music, even the recent content (despite it also being more sparsely produced and thus less energetic than EDM from, say, the early '10s). I really enjoy that Jonny guitar riff at the start! Reminds me of Ink. Certainly the most "Coldplay" off the EP. This is what I mean when I'm talking about enjoying catchy, bouncy music. This type of it, with actual melody and energy, is much better than normal pop music could ever be. Sure, the diverse influences infused into the song kind of make it sound more mainstream, but again it also does give something different to the song as well. Somebody mentioned it as "world EDM"; interesting idea! As expected from the other songs off the EP, the lyrical content is quite lacking, but that's to be expected from more mainstream pop music anyway, and Coldplay's been going downhill with that anyways, not to mention that the features aren't known for lyrical prowess either. I can definitely hear where David Guetta contributed on the song in the more club-sounding style of the post-chorus (first) and pre-chorus (last) (IIRC), and although club music isn't too much my style when it comes to EDM, I can appreciate it nonetheless, and it definitely gives this song that something it wouldn't have had otherwise. Perhaps the louder bassline was his idea as well (although that's probably just Guy contributing well to the song here). Also liked Jonny's sustained contributions at the end. I think everybody comes in on here to compliment the song really well with their own touches, to make what would have otherwise been a more mainstream EDM song (that it is anyway, but most mainstream EDM IMO isn't bad to my ears anyways) something with a bit more spice to it. I think something I am missing here is something after David Guetta's riser claps or whatever (I could be completely wrong about that being from David Guetta by the way, but out of the 5 other people mentioned in the title who contributed to the song, I can't help but think that was probably him). I know you'll probably all think I'm outrageous for saying this, but I'd really like to hear a club remix or something of this song, retaining the original idea from those riser clap things, but actually extending it and resolving it as it should (I was honestly missing that in the song, a club-based drop to resolve the club-based riser would have been great to hear, but unfortunately it didn't happen.. guess that's what happens when you gotta make a short song with lots of people involved! Not everybody's ideas get heard fully) It just sounds like it should be in there. Ideally the original chorus/drop should be retained as well, but I know anybody who'd do a remix in this style probably wouldn't and would just focus on modifying the style, and besides, then it'd become too long for most people, not including me, to enjoy. Either way, great song, best from the album, and again nothing spectacular but definitely a notch above the rest on this album, and it's good enough for me to say it has "great" status, not just "good" as with E-Lo or Rise Up.

 

Overall: 3 out of 5 It's a decent EP, actually. Sure, it's very pop-focused with some African influences in general, but that isn't a bad thing, and as always. Coldplay always finds a way to bring something new and unique to the table. They definitely do sound a whole lot different here than usual (more poppy), so I'm grateful that they instead made a new band with the name "Los Unidades" for side projects like this. Otherwise, no doubt they'd alienate a lot of their fanbase with this type of music (not like they haven't done enough damage already with AHFOD and other pop albums they've done, which pale in comparison regarding "pop" level to this EP). As for the future of Los Unidades, I really do hope this isn't just a thing they'll do and then abandon it, I hope they'll keep going with this, whether it be in future Global Citizen related EPs, or releasing something else entirely original. After all, the unique name somehow forms an anagram saying "Unsold Ideas", so possibly we'll be able to hear Car Kids in the future! :D

I mentioned I was gonna talk about excessive collaborations and how they can actually harm a song's quality. I don't know why, and this sounds very counter-intuitive, I know, but it seems like the more people that work on a song, the worse the song actually is. It seems like acts who have a million features and collabs on their albums aren't nearly as good as those who just write their own music, despite the idea that the more people that work on something, the better it should be. You can find many, many examples of this in the music industry, and we can even find it with Coldplay here! Coldplay never had a single feature on any of their albums until their fifth, and that's when in a lot of people's opinion they began to go downhill (I'll humbly disagree, as that is not only my favorite Coldplay album, but my favorite of all time). The first I remember Coldplay having a feature/collab on a song they made and they released was the alternate version of Lost with Jay Z. (Yes, Coldplay's done collabs with others before that, but they were more released on the other act's titles, not their own on a single, EP, or LP -- this is what I mean when I say the first collab song they've released). But as we see in the later albums, Coldplay's been getting more and more involved with other acts and collabing more. Not including Up&Up, which was a choir and wasn't even credited in the title, I believe this is the first Coldplay (or Los Unidades here) has had at least 2 acts collab on the same song with them. I mean, look at Voodoo -- that's 6 mentions, in a single song! I can't name a pop song off the top of my head that has that many features and collabs.. That being said, IMO it is the best off the EP. But in general, I think a lot of people here would agree this is Coldplay at their worst, and guess what? -- no surprises, it's also the release with the most collabs. I get it, though. It's a charity AP and you'd want many others to get involved, as many as possible. Still. There's definitely a direct correlation between the quality of music and how many people feature/collab on it: the more collabs/features there are, generally speaking, the worse the music is (more in the generic pop direction, then going into mainstream rap and whatever). This certainly isn't to say, though, the more people that work on it, the worse the music is. Linkin Park had many members, and so does Radiohead, yet they both make fantastic music. It's just that when in the title there's features or collabs mentioned, it seems like the more there are, the worse the music gets. I don't know what it is. Just a trend I've noticed. It must be a pop/rap thing or something, because you never almost see it on rock songs, but all the time on pop, rap, even EDM a lot of the time. But I say this because songs with, for example, a single collab, usually aren't so bad, but almost all songs I've heard with 3 or more features/collabs aren't great at all. IDK. Just something interesting I've noticed, that I wanted to share with you all, that you can notice Coldplay doing, and that (most of) you will notice the trend on the EP on.

 

Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. :D

[The Jordanator]

I bet you've (or some of you who know me) have been waiting around for me to give my opinions on these new songs, by the new Coldplay (Los Unidades).

Yes, I heard these songs as soon as they came out. Heard all the songs off the EP as soon as they came out, too. Just didn't get around to posting my opinions on them here (well I did a week ago, but I accidentally closed my window and didn't get back to it till now, and because the draft saving feature is trash it didn't save the 4 paragraph long post I made... ughhhhh have to do it again)

 

Anyway, a disclaimer before I note any of my opinions on these songs: Please don't get offended when I say I don't like a particular song, I am glad that they did this for a good cause and all the boys, not just our frontman Chris Martin, have proven to be interested in getting involved in charity work. That being said, here goes:

 

Stargate - Rise Up (ft. Nelson Mandela): 3 out of 5 I'm aware this doesn't appear to have the Los Unidades (Coldplay) listed on it, at least not in the title, as contributers, and is the only song off the album having that distinction. Thought I'd give my thoughts on it anyway, as its production is similar to the other songs on the album, and I'm not sure, possibly the boys did contribute to it, but aren't credited (which I think is something they don't really do, but anyways). It's actually a decent song, I like the main melody and surprisingly for a producer like Stargate that sample or loop or whatever sounds like it was recorded a while ago. Guess even mainstream producers can surprise us, if even mildly, sometimes. Besides, I'm not a total hater of pop music like some people on here, just the really cheap, uninspired, untalented lame pop (*ahem*Girls Like you*ahem*). I like those echoey sounding parts to the song too, gives the song an otherwise really neat vibe. I surely appreciate the inclusion of Nelson Mandela's words over the otherwise instumental track (and his mentioning in the title, so we all know who the speaker is); it's a great way to set the African theme for the album, to open with who is among Africa's most important icons when it comes to issues like those attempting to be resolved by the Global Citizen movement. Overall, it's decent. Nothing spectacular, as I'd expect from a more pop-focused song from a pop-based producer, but it's definitely not bad at all.

 

Los Unidades & Pharrell Williams - E-Lo (ft. Jozzy): 3.5 out of 5 Alright, the first song off the album (and the first released) to feature Coldplay on it. Whoops, my mistake.. Los Unidades. I'm gonna be honest, before I even heard the song I thought it'd be straight garbage because of the inclusion of Pharrell, but when I took a listen to it (why wouldn't I, it's Coldplay anyway!) I was actually proven wrong. People can say this is a sellout, lame song all they want (not like these people don't realize Coldplay has sold out before, at least in their opinions) and it certainly isn't as densely produced as some of their usual songs, but in my opinion they were able to fuse African influences into this song in a unique way and still retain their "good music" integrity. Most pop songs that try to do this are less than great and usually end up being really generic and lame, but this manages to pull it off. I like it, I'm feeling the groove. Sure, all we hear Chris saying in the chorus is "elololololololo" but I'm not really the type of person to complain about them making random noises for singing sounds. As long as the song has some lyrics with real meaning, I can get along with it as it's still a catchy, good melody, as is what happened in this song. Even then, I wouldn't really mind; sure, the lyrics of a song are important when they're there, but I don't mind the inclusion of things like these into the song. In my opinion, they just serve to enhance the quality of the song when used properly (which, to be honest, is most of the time; it's more a matter of when they don't use it properly that bugs me). It's a style we've never really heard from Coldplay before; I really enjoy those background short-synth sounds in the background, they compliment the African-style drumming very well! I'm glad to see Will Champion play around with legitimately unique styles (if that was him who came up with the idea), and I also like the distant background electronic elements in the song too. They do sound more like the "mainstream" samples we usually hear in normal pop music, but the way they're used I think stands out enough for it to sound good. (I don't mind "mainstream" sounding songs either, but we all know we want more from Coldplay than just that, and I'm glad they didn't just resort to completely selling out like some bands might). I do think what the song would benefit from is some denser, more energetic production near the end of the song in the last chorus; whenever I hear this song in my head I always hear it with more instruments near the ending, particularly a Jonny guitar solo with the same/similar melody as Chris' "e-lo"s throughout the song in the chorus. When I listen to the song, which honestly has only been a few times so far, I always feel like there is something missing at the end (it's not surprising, really, seeing as pop music since around 2013 has became progressively more sparsely produced, with more cheaper-sounding sounds replacing better sounds throughout). Anyway, not complaining too much. Overall, the song's good. Again, nothing truly spectacular, and again I wouldn't expect it from a pop song in this style, but hey, Coldplay pulled off a decent effort nonetheless!

 

Cassper Nyovest & Los Unidades - Timbuktu (ft. Stormy and Jess Kent): 2.3 out of 5 I'm going to have to say, this is my least favorite song off the EP, and it's not just because it happens to be the "worst" song even though it's good; I actually don't really like the song that much at all. This is more of what I was talking about when I'm talking about more "normal", sparsely produced modern electropop music (although this song isn't as bad as some recent songs). Quite disappointed, to be honest. The only part I really like in the song is the chorus when the vocoded Chris comes in with a decent melody, which is unfortunately mostly absent from the rest of the song, against Coldplay tradition. I'll be honest, I've had Chris singing "Timmmmmbukkktuuuu" in my head every now and again from when I first listened to the song. I've listened to it a couple times, like all the other songs, and I'll admit it's grown on me a bit, but still definitely not Coldplay at their best. I do recognize there are at least 3 other people involved in the making of this song (I have more to say on the topic of excessive music collaborations later on in this post, in my overall thoughts about the EP), none of who I've heard before. Because the only good part in the song is the chorus with Chris, and the verses really aren't great at all, it's most definitely the other's influence in the song that was to my distaste (I don't buy the concept that Coldplay can make a song this bad on their own, lol). I've actually noticed a lot of people on here say this is a song they like, and even their favorite song off the album, and I do see where they can be coming from, but the reason I got into Coldplay was because they had more than just poppy catchy music. They had something unique to them, they were the first consistently good band I'd heard in their music (I have a whole long story about how I discovered Coldplay, won't be saying it here, but possibly I'll make a post on it someday. I already think I have somewhere on the forum.. if you want to, you can always look for it! Lol) On the other hand, this type of music is not what I like to see from Coldplay; it's little more than just your everyday generic melody-lacking energy-lacking all-focused-on-catchiness pop song, which is precisely the type of music I was attempting to avoid by listening to Coldplay. Despite me saying all this, I do think the general sounds used in the song do stand out a bit from what's usually heard on the radio (not as bright or "up"? Not really sure how to describe it) but otherwise, it's your run of the mill generic pop song that could easily be played as background music on the radio. Honestly, this song reminds me a lot of Charlie Puth's "Attention" now that I think about it (which is quite a bit better song in my opinion by the way; didn't like it at first, but it's really grown on me since then, and although again it's nothing spectacular, it has a certain catchiness and enough content in the song for me to like it a decent), they have similar production styles. Possibly this song might grow on me if I give it enough time. That's honestly what I find about a lot of pop music; songs like "Closer" by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey, and the previously mentioned "Atttention" by Charlie Puth are songs I both despised at first, but over the course of several months, I actually came to like them! Although neither are spectacular, they're still both good, fun, enjoyable pop songs, particularly Closer as it's more energetic and fun, despite the lyrical content being sub-par as expected from The Chainsmokers. It's just good fun. Anyway, we'll see whether my opinion on this song changes over the next few months. For now, though, it's not what I want to hear from Coldplay. (I guess I might not hate the song as much had it not been from a rebranded Coldplay, (I guess the normal Coldplay would have been worse, more information on this on the "Overall" section of this post) but either way I guess it's just not my thing).

 

Stargate & Los Unidades - Voodoo (ft. Tiwa Savage, Wizkid, Danny Ocean and David Guetta): 3.7 out of 5 I'm gonna be honest, when I first seen this song's title I immediately thought of the song by the same name by Godsmack. I knew it wouldn't be anything like it considering the poppier theme of this EP, which is disappointing, but it actually turned out to be my favorite song from the EP anyways! I know most people on this board don't like EDM at all, but I personally find it far better than modern pop music, even the recent content (despite it also being more sparsely produced and thus less energetic than EDM from, say, the early '10s). I really enjoy that Jonny guitar riff at the start! Reminds me of Ink. Certainly the most "Coldplay" off the EP. This is what I mean when I'm talking about enjoying catchy, bouncy music. This type of it, with actual melody and energy, is much better than normal pop music could ever be. Sure, the diverse influences infused into the song kind of make it sound more mainstream, but again it also does give something different to the song as well. Somebody mentioned it as "world EDM"; interesting idea! As expected from the other songs off the EP, the lyrical content is quite lacking, but that's to be expected from more mainstream pop music anyway, and Coldplay's been going downhill with that anyways, not to mention that the features aren't known for lyrical prowess either. I can definitely hear where David Guetta contributed on the song in the more club-sounding style of the post-chorus (first) and pre-chorus (last) (IIRC), and although club music isn't too much my style when it comes to EDM, I can appreciate it nonetheless, and it definitely gives this song that something it wouldn't have had otherwise. Perhaps the louder bassline was his idea as well (although that's probably just Guy contributing well to the song here). Also liked Jonny's sustained contributions at the end. I think everybody comes in on here to compliment the song really well with their own touches, to make what would have otherwise been a more mainstream EDM song (that it is anyway, but most mainstream EDM IMO isn't bad to my ears anyways) something with a bit more spice to it. I think something I am missing here is something after David Guetta's riser claps or whatever (I could be completely wrong about that being from David Guetta by the way, but out of the 5 other people mentioned in the title who contributed to the song, I can't help but think that was probably him). I know you'll probably all think I'm outrageous for saying this, but I'd really like to hear a club remix or something of this song, retaining the original idea from those riser clap things, but actually extending it and resolving it as it should (I was honestly missing that in the song, a club-based drop to resolve the club-based riser would have been great to hear, but unfortunately it didn't happen.. guess that's what happens when you gotta make a short song with lots of people involved! Not everybody's ideas get heard fully) It just sounds like it should be in there. Ideally the original chorus/drop should be retained as well, but I know anybody who'd do a remix in this style probably wouldn't and would just focus on modifying the style, and besides, then it'd become too long for most people, not including me, to enjoy. Either way, great song, best from the album, and again nothing spectacular but definitely a notch above the rest on this album, and it's good enough for me to say it has "great" status, not just "good" as with E-Lo or Rise Up.

 

Overall: 3 out of 5 It's a decent EP, actually. Sure, it's very pop-focused with some African influences in general, but that isn't a bad thing, and as always. Coldplay always finds a way to bring something new and unique to the table. They definitely do sound a whole lot different here than usual (more poppy), so I'm grateful that they instead made a new band with the name "Los Unidades" for side projects like this. Otherwise, no doubt they'd alienate a lot of their fanbase with this type of music (not like they haven't done enough damage already with AHFOD and other pop albums they've done, which pale in comparison regarding "pop" level to this EP). As for the future of Los Unidades, I really do hope this isn't just a thing they'll do and then abandon it, I hope they'll keep going with this, whether it be in future Global Citizen related EPs, or releasing something else entirely original. After all, the unique name somehow forms an anagram saying "Unsold Ideas", so possibly we'll be able to hear Car Kids in the future! :D

I mentioned I was gonna talk about excessive collaborations and how they can actually harm a song's quality. I don't know why, and this sounds very counter-intuitive, I know, but it seems like the more people that work on a song, the worse the song actually is. It seems like acts who have a million features and collabs on their albums aren't nearly as good as those who just write their own music, despite the idea that the more people that work on something, the better it should be. You can find many, many examples of this in the music industry, and we can even find it with Coldplay here! Coldplay never had a single feature on any of their albums until their fifth, and that's when in a lot of people's opinion they began to go downhill (I'll humbly disagree, as that is not only my favorite Coldplay album, but my favorite of all time). The first I remember Coldplay having a feature/collab on a song they made and they released was the alternate version of Lost with Jay Z. (Yes, Coldplay's done collabs with others before that, but they were more released on the other act's titles, not their own on a single, EP, or LP -- this is what I mean when I say the first collab song they've released). But as we see in the later albums, Coldplay's been getting more and more involved with other acts and collabing more. Not including Up&Up, which was a choir and wasn't even credited in the title, I believe this is the first Coldplay (or Los Unidades here) has had at least 2 acts collab on the same song with them. I mean, look at Voodoo -- that's 6 mentions, in a single song! I can't name a pop song off the top of my head that has that many features and collabs.. That being said, IMO it is the best off the EP. But in general, I think a lot of people here would agree this is Coldplay at their worst, and guess what? -- no surprises, it's also the release with the most collabs. I get it, though. It's a charity AP and you'd want many others to get involved, as many as possible. Still. There's definitely a direct correlation between the quality of music and how many people feature/collab on it: the more collabs/features there are, generally speaking, the worse the music is (more in the generic pop direction, then going into mainstream rap and whatever). This certainly isn't to say, though, the more people that work on it, the worse the music is. Linkin Park had many members, and so does Radiohead, yet they both make fantastic music. It's just that when in the title there's features or collabs mentioned, it seems like the more there are, the worse the music gets. I don't know what it is. Just a trend I've noticed. It must be a pop/rap thing or something, because you never almost see it on rock songs, but all the time on pop, rap, even EDM a lot of the time. But I say this because songs with, for example, a single collab, usually aren't so bad, but almost all songs I've heard with 3 or more features/collabs aren't great at all. IDK. Just something interesting I've noticed, that I wanted to share with you all, that you can notice Coldplay doing, and that (most of) you will notice the trend on the EP on.

 

Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. :D

 

Geez I’d hate to see your Live in Buenos Airies review!

[merril]

The more I think about 'Los Unidades' the more I understand the idea behind it. It was made to promote the idea of Global Citizens and especially that concert in Johannesburg. Musically speaking, global citizens means the collaboration between global musicians with special focus on the site of the venue, in this case South Africa. Whether 'good 'music is made by many artists of very different cultures working together is difficult to answer, and I am not sure whether the whole EP is really 'good'. But at least it was a worthwile try.

 

All the music at Global Citizens festivals is by definition 'world music'. In our 'Internet age' anybody can listen to anything any time, and musicians will more and more be influenced by other musicians worldwide. And it will become increasingly difficult for musicians to keep up their own profile. Perhaps the future of music lies in collaboration?

 

Anyhow, the side project of Coldplay, Los Unidades' gives them the chance to tread new paths, to collaborate with other artists all over the world, to make an accustic EP, to make a record with all their wives and kids singing, to create a song with all the four of them singing a capella to make each of them play a different Instrument (Chris on the drums, Jonny on the piano, Guy on the keyboard, Will on the guitar ...).

 

Los Unidades could be a creative playground for them, so that they can e.g. release a new EP for the next Global Citizens festival under the name 'Los Unidades' and at the same time create interesting new songs, 'real Coldplay Songs' under their real name.

[Gideon_Mx]

Geez I’d hate to see your Live in Buenos Airies review!

You can say that again!

I bet you've (or some of you who know me) have been waiting around for me to give my opinions on these new songs, by the new Coldplay (Los Unidades).

Yes, I heard these songs as soon as they came out. Heard all the songs off the EP as soon as they came out, too. Just didn't get around to posting my opinions on them here (well I did a week ago, but I accidentally closed my window and didn't get back to it till now, and because the draft saving feature is trash it didn't save the 4 paragraph long post I made... ughhhhh have to do it again)

 

Anyway, a disclaimer before I note any of my opinions on these songs: Please don't get offended when I say I don't like a particular song, I am glad that they did this for a good cause and all the boys, not just our frontman Chris Martin, have proven to be interested in getting involved in charity work. That being said, here goes:

 

Stargate - Rise Up (ft. Nelson Mandela): 3 out of 5 I'm aware this doesn't appear to have the Los Unidades (Coldplay) listed on it, at least not in the title, as contributers, and is the only song off the album having that distinction. Thought I'd give my thoughts on it anyway, as its production is similar to the other songs on the album, and I'm not sure, possibly the boys did contribute to it, but aren't credited (which I think is something they don't really do, but anyways). It's actually a decent song, I like the main melody and surprisingly for a producer like Stargate that sample or loop or whatever sounds like it was recorded a while ago. Guess even mainstream producers can surprise us, if even mildly, sometimes. Besides, I'm not a total hater of pop music like some people on here, just the really cheap, uninspired, untalented lame pop (*ahem*Girls Like you*ahem*). I like those echoey sounding parts to the song too, gives the song an otherwise really neat vibe. I surely appreciate the inclusion of Nelson Mandela's words over the otherwise instumental track (and his mentioning in the title, so we all know who the speaker is); it's a great way to set the African theme for the album, to open with who is among Africa's most important icons when it comes to issues like those attempting to be resolved by the Global Citizen movement. Overall, it's decent. Nothing spectacular, as I'd expect from a more pop-focused song from a pop-based producer, but it's definitely not bad at all.

 

Los Unidades & Pharrell Williams - E-Lo (ft. Jozzy): 3.5 out of 5 Alright, the first song off the album (and the first released) to feature Coldplay on it. Whoops, my mistake.. Los Unidades. I'm gonna be honest, before I even heard the song I thought it'd be straight garbage because of the inclusion of Pharrell, but when I took a listen to it (why wouldn't I, it's Coldplay anyway!) I was actually proven wrong. People can say this is a sellout, lame song all they want (not like these people don't realize Coldplay has sold out before, at least in their opinions) and it certainly isn't as densely produced as some of their usual songs, but in my opinion they were able to fuse African influences into this song in a unique way and still retain their "good music" integrity. Most pop songs that try to do this are less than great and usually end up being really generic and lame, but this manages to pull it off. I like it, I'm feeling the groove. Sure, all we hear Chris saying in the chorus is "elololololololo" but I'm not really the type of person to complain about them making random noises for singing sounds. As long as the song has some lyrics with real meaning, I can get along with it as it's still a catchy, good melody, as is what happened in this song. Even then, I wouldn't really mind; sure, the lyrics of a song are important when they're there, but I don't mind the inclusion of things like these into the song. In my opinion, they just serve to enhance the quality of the song when used properly (which, to be honest, is most of the time; it's more a matter of when they don't use it properly that bugs me). It's a style we've never really heard from Coldplay before; I really enjoy those background short-synth sounds in the background, they compliment the African-style drumming very well! I'm glad to see Will Champion play around with legitimately unique styles (if that was him who came up with the idea), and I also like the distant background electronic elements in the song too. They do sound more like the "mainstream" samples we usually hear in normal pop music, but the way they're used I think stands out enough for it to sound good. (I don't mind "mainstream" sounding songs either, but we all know we want more from Coldplay than just that, and I'm glad they didn't just resort to completely selling out like some bands might). I do think what the song would benefit from is some denser, more energetic production near the end of the song in the last chorus; whenever I hear this song in my head I always hear it with more instruments near the ending, particularly a Jonny guitar solo with the same/similar melody as Chris' "e-lo"s throughout the song in the chorus. When I listen to the song, which honestly has only been a few times so far, I always feel like there is something missing at the end (it's not surprising, really, seeing as pop music since around 2013 has became progressively more sparsely produced, with more cheaper-sounding sounds replacing better sounds throughout). Anyway, not complaining too much. Overall, the song's good. Again, nothing truly spectacular, and again I wouldn't expect it from a pop song in this style, but hey, Coldplay pulled off a decent effort nonetheless!

 

Cassper Nyovest & Los Unidades - Timbuktu (ft. Stormy and Jess Kent): 2.3 out of 5 I'm going to have to say, this is my least favorite song off the EP, and it's not just because it happens to be the "worst" song even though it's good; I actually don't really like the song that much at all. This is more of what I was talking about when I'm talking about more "normal", sparsely produced modern electropop music (although this song isn't as bad as some recent songs). Quite disappointed, to be honest. The only part I really like in the song is the chorus when the vocoded Chris comes in with a decent melody, which is unfortunately mostly absent from the rest of the song, against Coldplay tradition. I'll be honest, I've had Chris singing "Timmmmmbukkktuuuu" in my head every now and again from when I first listened to the song. I've listened to it a couple times, like all the other songs, and I'll admit it's grown on me a bit, but still definitely not Coldplay at their best. I do recognize there are at least 3 other people involved in the making of this song (I have more to say on the topic of excessive music collaborations later on in this post, in my overall thoughts about the EP), none of who I've heard before. Because the only good part in the song is the chorus with Chris, and the verses really aren't great at all, it's most definitely the other's influence in the song that was to my distaste (I don't buy the concept that Coldplay can make a song this bad on their own, lol). I've actually noticed a lot of people on here say this is a song they like, and even their favorite song off the album, and I do see where they can be coming from, but the reason I got into Coldplay was because they had more than just poppy catchy music. They had something unique to them, they were the first consistently good band I'd heard in their music (I have a whole long story about how I discovered Coldplay, won't be saying it here, but possibly I'll make a post on it someday. I already think I have somewhere on the forum.. if you want to, you can always look for it! Lol) On the other hand, this type of music is not what I like to see from Coldplay; it's little more than just your everyday generic melody-lacking energy-lacking all-focused-on-catchiness pop song, which is precisely the type of music I was attempting to avoid by listening to Coldplay. Despite me saying all this, I do think the general sounds used in the song do stand out a bit from what's usually heard on the radio (not as bright or "up"? Not really sure how to describe it) but otherwise, it's your run of the mill generic pop song that could easily be played as background music on the radio. Honestly, this song reminds me a lot of Charlie Puth's "Attention" now that I think about it (which is quite a bit better song in my opinion by the way; didn't like it at first, but it's really grown on me since then, and although again it's nothing spectacular, it has a certain catchiness and enough content in the song for me to like it a decent), they have similar production styles. Possibly this song might grow on me if I give it enough time. That's honestly what I find about a lot of pop music; songs like "Closer" by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey, and the previously mentioned "Atttention" by Charlie Puth are songs I both despised at first, but over the course of several months, I actually came to like them! Although neither are spectacular, they're still both good, fun, enjoyable pop songs, particularly Closer as it's more energetic and fun, despite the lyrical content being sub-par as expected from The Chainsmokers. It's just good fun. Anyway, we'll see whether my opinion on this song changes over the next few months. For now, though, it's not what I want to hear from Coldplay. (I guess I might not hate the song as much had it not been from a rebranded Coldplay, (I guess the normal Coldplay would have been worse, more information on this on the "Overall" section of this post) but either way I guess it's just not my thing).

 

Stargate & Los Unidades - Voodoo (ft. Tiwa Savage, Wizkid, Danny Ocean and David Guetta): 3.7 out of 5 I'm gonna be honest, when I first seen this song's title I immediately thought of the song by the same name by Godsmack. I knew it wouldn't be anything like it considering the poppier theme of this EP, which is disappointing, but it actually turned out to be my favorite song from the EP anyways! I know most people on this board don't like EDM at all, but I personally find it far better than modern pop music, even the recent content (despite it also being more sparsely produced and thus less energetic than EDM from, say, the early '10s). I really enjoy that Jonny guitar riff at the start! Reminds me of Ink. Certainly the most "Coldplay" off the EP. This is what I mean when I'm talking about enjoying catchy, bouncy music. This type of it, with actual melody and energy, is much better than normal pop music could ever be. Sure, the diverse influences infused into the song kind of make it sound more mainstream, but again it also does give something different to the song as well. Somebody mentioned it as "world EDM"; interesting idea! As expected from the other songs off the EP, the lyrical content is quite lacking, but that's to be expected from more mainstream pop music anyway, and Coldplay's been going downhill with that anyways, not to mention that the features aren't known for lyrical prowess either. I can definitely hear where David Guetta contributed on the song in the more club-sounding style of the post-chorus (first) and pre-chorus (last) (IIRC), and although club music isn't too much my style when it comes to EDM, I can appreciate it nonetheless, and it definitely gives this song that something it wouldn't have had otherwise. Perhaps the louder bassline was his idea as well (although that's probably just Guy contributing well to the song here). Also liked Jonny's sustained contributions at the end. I think everybody comes in on here to compliment the song really well with their own touches, to make what would have otherwise been a more mainstream EDM song (that it is anyway, but most mainstream EDM IMO isn't bad to my ears anyways) something with a bit more spice to it. I think something I am missing here is something after David Guetta's riser claps or whatever (I could be completely wrong about that being from David Guetta by the way, but out of the 5 other people mentioned in the title who contributed to the song, I can't help but think that was probably him). I know you'll probably all think I'm outrageous for saying this, but I'd really like to hear a club remix or something of this song, retaining the original idea from those riser clap things, but actually extending it and resolving it as it should (I was honestly missing that in the song, a club-based drop to resolve the club-based riser would have been great to hear, but unfortunately it didn't happen.. guess that's what happens when you gotta make a short song with lots of people involved! Not everybody's ideas get heard fully) It just sounds like it should be in there. Ideally the original chorus/drop should be retained as well, but I know anybody who'd do a remix in this style probably wouldn't and would just focus on modifying the style, and besides, then it'd become too long for most people, not including me, to enjoy. Either way, great song, best from the album, and again nothing spectacular but definitely a notch above the rest on this album, and it's good enough for me to say it has "great" status, not just "good" as with E-Lo or Rise Up.

 

Overall: 3 out of 5 It's a decent EP, actually. Sure, it's very pop-focused with some African influences in general, but that isn't a bad thing, and as always. Coldplay always finds a way to bring something new and unique to the table. They definitely do sound a whole lot different here than usual (more poppy), so I'm grateful that they instead made a new band with the name "Los Unidades" for side projects like this. Otherwise, no doubt they'd alienate a lot of their fanbase with this type of music (not like they haven't done enough damage already with AHFOD and other pop albums they've done, which pale in comparison regarding "pop" level to this EP). As for the future of Los Unidades, I really do hope this isn't just a thing they'll do and then abandon it, I hope they'll keep going with this, whether it be in future Global Citizen related EPs, or releasing something else entirely original. After all, the unique name somehow forms an anagram saying "Unsold Ideas", so possibly we'll be able to hear Car Kids in the future! :D

I mentioned I was gonna talk about excessive collaborations and how they can actually harm a song's quality. I don't know why, and this sounds very counter-intuitive, I know, but it seems like the more people that work on a song, the worse the song actually is. It seems like acts who have a million features and collabs on their albums aren't nearly as good as those who just write their own music, despite the idea that the more people that work on something, the better it should be. You can find many, many examples of this in the music industry, and we can even find it with Coldplay here! Coldplay never had a single feature on any of their albums until their fifth, and that's when in a lot of people's opinion they began to go downhill (I'll humbly disagree, as that is not only my favorite Coldplay album, but my favorite of all time). The first I remember Coldplay having a feature/collab on a song they made and they released was the alternate version of Lost with Jay Z. (Yes, Coldplay's done collabs with others before that, but they were more released on the other act's titles, not their own on a single, EP, or LP -- this is what I mean when I say the first collab song they've released). But as we see in the later albums, Coldplay's been getting more and more involved with other acts and collabing more. Not including Up&Up, which was a choir and wasn't even credited in the title, I believe this is the first Coldplay (or Los Unidades here) has had at least 2 acts collab on the same song with them. I mean, look at Voodoo -- that's 6 mentions, in a single song! I can't name a pop song off the top of my head that has that many features and collabs.. That being said, IMO it is the best off the EP. But in general, I think a lot of people here would agree this is Coldplay at their worst, and guess what? -- no surprises, it's also the release with the most collabs. I get it, though. It's a charity AP and you'd want many others to get involved, as many as possible. Still. There's definitely a direct correlation between the quality of music and how many people feature/collab on it: the more collabs/features there are, generally speaking, the worse the music is (more in the generic pop direction, then going into mainstream rap and whatever). This certainly isn't to say, though, the more people that work on it, the worse the music is. Linkin Park had many members, and so does Radiohead, yet they both make fantastic music. It's just that when in the title there's features or collabs mentioned, it seems like the more there are, the worse the music gets. I don't know what it is. Just a trend I've noticed. It must be a pop/rap thing or something, because you never almost see it on rock songs, but all the time on pop, rap, even EDM a lot of the time. But I say this because songs with, for example, a single collab, usually aren't so bad, but almost all songs I've heard with 3 or more features/collabs aren't great at all. IDK. Just something interesting I've noticed, that I wanted to share with you all, that you can notice Coldplay doing, and that (most of) you will notice the trend on the EP on.

 

Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. :D

Hehehe, nice to see you again cp3176! It's been a long time... Remember me? ;D

[cp3176]

Geez I’d hate to see your Live in Buenos Airies review!

 

Don't you worry. I don't have THAT much time on my hands. Writing lengthy reviews for 4 songs and the EP as a whole was daunting enough for me. :joy::joy:

 

You can say that again!

 

Hehehe, nice to see you again cp3176! It's been a long time... Remember me? ;D

 

Yep :D

[MosesTheMarshmallow]

Finally listened to the whole EP and I like it! Voodoo is a great feels-like-it's-by-Coldplay song with some great Jonny riffs. Timbuktu is very catchy. Rise Up is cool, with a nice guitar line - maybe that was Jonny? I don't know how I feel about Nelson Mandela's voice being used that way, but I get someone probably okay-ed that and that it's all well meaning. *shrug*

 

Btw! E-Lo is pretty good live!! Chris and Pharrell are a little sloppy but it looks like they're having fun. The drums and guitars and stuff feel more present too, though the piano at the end is not as prominent which I think is important in the album version.

[driftaguy]

Has anyone from the band (or on behalf of the band) actually said what Los Unidades even is, like the reason for releasing music under that name? As far as I'm aware none of them have even acknowledged Los Unidades actually exists!