Los Unidades

[lennyrott1]

I'm sensing a lot of reactionary negativity to this right now.

 

To be clear, if Coldplay wanted to release this as Coldplay, they would have. But this isn't Coldplay. It's just Chris, with the consent/production of the band, helping curate a positive sounding EP that has social justice, fundraising, and inclusion in mind. To me, that's all wonderful. Plus, we should reserve judgement until we hear the full EP. And I'm so so excited about Voodoo!!!!

 

I don't see this as any indication of where Coldplay's going. All of this was likely recorded in 2017/early 2018 and it showcases new up and coming artists from diverse backgrounds! It's awesome that the band would do this with their platform and influence.

 

E-Lo is fine. It's got some groovy parts, I like the lyrics. But yeah, it's a world-pop dance song that sounds like Pharell all the way through and is overly repetitive. Listen closely though! Jonny's laying down some hip-hop guitar during the verses!

[ColdMartin]

Damn I didn’t realize how much i missed coldplay until today

[coldplaykb]

So why not just call this entire collaboration with all these different artists Los Unidades? Why did Coldplay have to create an alter ego just to get involved? I get trying to make it known that it's a separate project, but the media as well as fans are just saying it's a new Coldplay song with guest features. If anything, I would treat this as Chris collaborating with other artists for a one of charity thing. So why start this other group instead of just saying "oh btw, Chris has contributed to this charity EP". That would have made more sense imo.

 

Anyway, we've yet to hear the other tracks, so maybe the boys will be more known on them, but I didn't hear any Will/Guy/Jonny on this first track at all.

 

EDIT: Just read your post Lenny, I will give it another listen to pick out Jonny!

[Captain Crieff]

it's not because there are no prominent guitars or drums Jonny, Will and Guy aren't doing anything, since when is playing their main instrument the only sound they're capable of making?

 

this isn't directed at anyone in particular, just a comment I've seen a lot and I find it a bit weird. It's not the type of song I'd expect them to contribute to, but then SJLT exists and, full of surprises y'know

[onlylove]

Why does everyone think Chris is the only one who likes pop? Clearly poppy songs were approved by Will and Guy with AHFOD. They all love multiple genres. They will likely never go back to 2000 alternative rock bc it is not 2000 anymore. And the level of upset on this thread is a bit much IMO. They are doing this for a good cause and hyped it to get it attention so it would get the recognition it needs for a good cause. C'mon now.

[vico xt]

I don't like that there's so much negativity around this... I'm a bit sad. I like the song, by the way. A song from a different band.

[CustomSpizikes]

I guess they may be doing a parallel band (under the pseudonym Los Unidades) just like U2 did as Passengers and Arctic Monkeys did as The Death Ramps

 

This has to be a side-project for charity purposes.

 

I know Unidades means "units," but it is also similar to Unido, which means "united." So maybe it is for collaborations where artists are united together idk.

 

Apparently it says on wikipedia and other articles that Passengers was a side project that was born from a U2/Brian Eno collaboration where the band experimented with various sounds and ultimately produced those sounds for a movie.

 

Probably correct that Los Unidades is just the side project of Coldplay's collaborations for the Global Citizen Festival.

[Magic_2000]

Why does everyone think Chris is the only one who likes pop? Clearly poppy songs were approved by Will and Guy with AHFOD. They all love multiple genres. They will likely never go back to 2000 alternative rock bc it is not 2000 anymore. And the level of upset on this thread is a bit much IMO. They are doing this for a good cause and hyped it to get it attention so it would get the recognition it needs for a good cause. C'mon now.

While I still believe that a lot of the pop sound of AHFOD came from Chris and Stargate I agree with most of this. Oldplay sound will most probably never come back like back then(AICTAIY being the closest to that) and I think that's a irrealistic thing to think. My only problem with this was the way it was announced. If they said before releasing the song what it would be about I think there wouldn't be as much hate. If there's anything to take from this is how expectations play with us.

[lennyrott1]

For sure, this is mostly a Chris side project in the same way SJLT feels like a Chris side project. We'll have to see how the other songs feel. This one mostly feels like a Pharrell song featuring Chris.

 

And to answer KB's question...I don't really know. I think maybe because Coldplay under parlaphone still has to promote the Butterfly Package they don't want to have two Coldplay releases so close to on another? So by having Los Unidades you a) Clearly define this as a side-project outside of Coldplay's core discography and b) Create space for both to be bought/consumed rather than having two Coldplay projects compete with eachother.

 

But I agree -- and I almost wonder if there will be backfire from Coldplay using the Spanish language when they're a millionaire English band. It maybe would have made more sense to not have the Los Unidades and just have the band Coldplay listed as a producer. But then again, Voodoo was cut from AHFOD so that's their song.

[CustomSpizikes]

For sure, this is mostly a Chris side project in the same way SJLT feels like a Chris side project. We'll have to see how the other songs feel. This one mostly feels like a Pharrell song featuring Chris.

 

And to answer KB's question...I don't really know. I think maybe because Coldplay under parlaphone still has to promote the Butterfly Package they don't want to have two Coldplay releases so close to on another? So by having Los Unidades you a) Clearly define this as a side-project outside of Coldplay's core discography and b) Create space for both to be bought/consumed rather than having two Coldplay projects compete with eachother.

 

But I agree -- and I almost wonder if there will be backfire from Coldplay using the Spanish language when they're a millionaire English band. It maybe would have made more sense to not have the Los Unidades and just have the band Coldplay listed as a producer. But then again, Voodoo was cut from AHFOD so that's their song.

 

Where did you hear that voodoo was cut? I never knew that!

[TheSavage_]

The song is already growing on me which I'm really glad about, not that bad after all. I do still think this could have been handled a million times better by Parlophone I guess, or whoever was involved.

[coldplaykb]

While I still believe that a lot of the pop sound of AHFOD came from Chris and Stargate I agree with most of this. Oldplay sound will most probably never come back like back then(AICTAIY being the closest to that) and I think that's a irrealistic thing to think. My only problem with this was the way it was announced. If they said before releasing the song what it would be about I think there wouldn't be as much hate. If there's anything to take from this is how expectations play with us.

That was my main point. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was complaining and hating on the song/project or what it stands for. I just think we hyped ourselves up too much that's all.

 

I think it's a wonderful thing they're doing and have no problem with it whatsoever. As for the rest of the band I never meant that they don't contribute in other ways. Just that their roles in this project seam more behind the scenes, although we can't really judge because we haven't heard the three other songs yet.

 

Truthfully what it comes down to for me is that there were a few hints that this project could be releasing old material. I usually don't read too much into speculation but it kind of made sense.

 

I think having the anagram for Coldplay at the bottom of the picture was a bad decision. First of all, it's pretty easy to decipher that it says Coldplay, and secondly, that's what started the deciphering of the name. From there someone came up with Unsold Ideas and my mind was already set on it.

 

Either way it's new music and I'm happy they're doing it for a great cause. And who knows, there still could be some more surprises up ahead.

 

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[coldplaykb]

For sure, this is mostly a Chris side project in the same way SJLT feels like a Chris side project. We'll have to see how the other songs feel. This one mostly feels like a Pharrell song featuring Chris.

 

And to answer KB's question...I don't really know. I think maybe because Coldplay under parlaphone still has to promote the Butterfly Package they don't want to have two Coldplay releases so close to on another? So by having Los Unidades you a) Clearly define this as a side-project outside of Coldplay's core discography and b) Create space for both to be bought/consumed rather than having two Coldplay projects compete with eachother.

 

But I agree -- and I almost wonder if there will be backfire from Coldplay using the Spanish language when they're a millionaire English band. It maybe would have made more sense to not have the Los Unidades and just have the band Coldplay listed as a producer. But then again, Voodoo was cut from AHFOD so that's their song.

Those are some good points. Makes sense.

 

Also I thought Voodoo was from the MX sessions?

 

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[The Jordanator]

Oh wow this is so much to take in.

E-Lo is freaking lit!!!!

 

Chris was right when he said they were going to be full of surprises. They’ve opted for the trending pop over the older styles of alternative rock (which they’ve proved they can still do and do well).

 

Voodoo is gonna be awesome to hear, and it will be interesting to see what GC EP 2 will have also.

[TheSavage_]

Ehm, guys:

https://twitter.com/unsoldideas

 

Following only @Coldplay and @LosUnidades, account created June 2016

[Rainy Day]

Hi, everyone. I've been a part of the forum since sometime in the Viva days, but I've posted far less frequently over the past few years. Please forgive the length of my post, which I guess will fairly well make up for my lack of posting. (haha)

 

To somewhat echo what others have said, perhaps it's a bit reactionary to start jumping to conclusions concerning the full nature of what "Los Unidades" really is about this early on. What we have now is one collaboration between them and Pharrell, and in a few days, we'll get the other two tracks. All of this is part of a collaborative EP made for the sake of Global Citizen and its causes. To assume any more at this point seems, at least to me, to be a bit hasty. It might be worth considering the following:

 

1. IF "Los Unidades" is, indeed, an anagram of "Unsold Ideas", it doesn't make sense to discredit that possibility based solely upon a few contributions to a collaborative EP and an overall lacking of "big picture" information (more on the notion of unsold ideas in my second thought). The band's decision to create a "new" band and make contributions to a collaborative EP before even putting out their own personal EP or LP seems odd, but due to the timing of both the Global Citizen's festival and the release of the Butterfly Package, perhaps it couldn't be avoided. It creates more confusion for us, but I can't help but think that they intend to make things much more clear for us in the coming weeks/months.

 

2. To dive deeper into a thought from my first point, the sheer lack of information at the present should be enough to warrant our patience. Outside of what we know with the upcoming EP, all that we have is a highly stylized photo of the boys from the Ghost Stories era being used as their band photo and evidence of certain unreleased Coldplay songs being registered under the new band name. Beyond this, we're left in the dark. Just because the one song we've heard from the EP is very poppy and the EP itself is collaboration-heavy, that doesn't necessarily indicate that "Los Unidades" was created simply to be a creative outlet for Chris' pop interest. To me, at least, it makes more sense to say that Coldplay has old material they want to release, but none of it is suitable for a Coldplay release--it's too "out there" or too different to suit how Coldplay ultimately defines itself. So, they ultimately decided it will be better to release it as a different band with different rules. This can give them more creative freedom to include elements they wouldn't feel comfortable adding to Coldplay releases, or else will allow older songs they've written to exist in the way they were meant to exist without having to be changed to comply to the band's rules for album releases (which can act to hinder the full potential of a track).

 

3. If all else fails, assuming that this is an excuse for Chris to explore his pop interests more, perhaps we can be grateful that he's getting it out of his system through Los Unidades instead of through proper Coldplay releases.

 

The burden is ultimately on us to be patient and wait for whatever it is the band is aiming to achieve. Whether or not we enjoy the upcoming EP, I don't think it is worth letting it worry us this early on. Until we see if they are actually going to release non-collaborative material, or if this is just a means for them to work with other artists for charity and create music more in line with their collaborators' genres (allowing Chris a considerable degree of creative control and input), we would probably do well to hold tight and not get too worked up over a future of which we've only been allowed a mere glimpse. I'm hopeful for whatever lies ahead, and even if it doesn't turn out as well as many of us would prefer, we still have future (true) Coldplay releases waiting for us a couple of years down the road. I can't wait to see what lies ahead!

[Captain Crieff]

Ehm, guys:

https://twitter.com/unsoldideas

 

Following only @Coldplay and @LosUnidades, account created June 2016

I'm not going to get my hopes up again so that's probably just someone changing the username of an old empty account

[Zero Theory]

Upon 3rd listen- I actually really like the song. The best part for me is that little synth progression that kind of sounds like a Nintendo riff. Again, Chris' lyrics are a bit cheesy. (I'm assuming they're his and not Pharrell's) The tune is nice, I like the incorporation of some lesser known artists and the African vibe to it.

[TheSavage_]

I'm not going to get my hopes up again so that's probably just someone changing the username of an old empty account

I didn't know this was possible :(

[lennyrott1]

Someone jump in and correct me if I'm wrong on this Voodoo question. I can't find the interview right now.

 

Before AHFOD was released in December 2015, Chris did an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music discussing the new songs on AHFOD and he mentioned a track called Voodoo that "they wouldn't get away with releasing right now," with a bit of smirk.

 

I think he's maybe referencing the fact that it's a wacky song, maybe super jazzy, maybe it's like XMTS, maybe it's an all out rock song. It makes me think of Creole culture, which makes me think of New Orleans/Caribbean, which makes me think it's maybe a Dancehall or Reggae song haha. Who knows how it's evolved but we'll find out Friday!

 

Again, I'm a bit worried Coldplay could get in to some Politically Correct trouble here... "Voodoo" is a term with a long, complicated history, including a lot of commercial & cultural appropriation. Remember the HFTW music video controversy?

[MarckozZ]

Someone jump in and correct me if I'm wrong on this Voodoo question. I can't find the interview right now.

 

Before AHFOD was released in December 2015, Chris did an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music discussing the new songs on AHFOD and he mentioned a track called Voodoo that "they wouldn't get away with releasing right now," with a bit of smirk.

 

I think he's maybe referencing the fact that it's a wacky song, maybe super jazzy, maybe it's like XMTS, maybe it's an all out rock song. It makes me think of Creole culture, which makes me think of New Orleans/Caribbean, which makes me think it's maybe a Dancehall or Reggae song haha. Who knows how it's evolved but we'll find out Friday!

 

Again, I'm a bit worried Coldplay could get in to some Politically Correct trouble here... "Voodoo" is a term with a long, complicated history, including a lot of commercial & cultural appropriation. Remember the HFTW music video controversy?

 

I'd love to get that "Voodoo" mention right. Was it mentioned on an interview? Or was the name spotted on some piece of paper like other tracks were before?

[The_Blue_Room]

What a roller coaster this day has been. Absolute excitement to utter disappointment in the span of about 4 hours :p

[Rebecca79]

I believe Chris mentioned in the documentary something about when a dream is fullfilled it is stored away and he steps on to the next. It makes sense them bringing out the documentary plus the butterfly package all before the year 2018 is out. I think it could be a "new beginning of something even bigger" we will have ro see what 2019 will bring us.

 

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[jc90]

Just catching up now, and generally, same old Coldplay fan (over) reactions. To put my own opinions out there though, no I dont like this song, and I dont like this direction. But that's fine because a) its not even listed as 'Coldplay' b) its for charity, so who tf cares, as long as someone else likes it and will buy the music for charity. But again, its typical at this point. It's like we've made up our minds whether we like something or not BEFORE even hearing it or without trying to reason with ourselves and realize, hey, this isn't even actually Coldplay.

 

I did read the whole thread quickly, but something I want to repeat (because it was a good point), why do ppl still think this pop direction is purely Chris's fault? I would imagine if you watched the documentary it would be clear that it is not. I get when you're upset, you try to justify what you're feeling. But at least justify it by realizing it isn't Chris who changed, they all changed. The band you loved before might not be the same band today. It's unfortunate, and I get why it sucks. I still prefer the pre-pop stylings myself. But blaming Chris is not the right answer.

 

Listen, if this was LP8, totally different story, but its clearly not, so lets chill and hope it does well for charity.

[anacaren08]

I'm enjoying the song, and I've been having fun trying to follow along with this crazy adventure! My only concern is how much longer we will have to wait for a Coldplay album and tour if they spend a lot of time with this. But also, maybe time will fly by getting distracted by this new project. But also eager for Coldplay to come back with a proper album. :)

 

Either way, I'm having fun at the moment and excited to see what else happens. I think this will be great for them to explore sounds and styles and that in turn will help them figure out what kind of album they want to make next.