In anticipation of the song being released on the 21st (as I write this potentially only fifteen minutes away), I'm taking the opportunity to create a semi-official thread for the song.

Listen to the song here. I'd like to embed the video, but Coldplaying is being annoying and not letting me.

Edited September 29, 20241 yr by Doomotron

Only 60 seconds left (in The Netherlands) !

 

I love Jonny's guitar in this one  

The pre-chorus with Jonny's E-bow guitar is just so great

Edited June 20, 20241 yr by Gideon_Mx

Feels like I've fallen in love with this one. It helps that I can hear Jonny! Can't wait to hear the rest!

I got the song downloaded through iTunes. It's an alright song, probably better than Higher Power, and undoubtedly would have been considered one of the highlights of MOTS1 had it been released three years earlier. The live recording definitely made the song sound worse than it really is, although there could be a bit more going on in the song earlier on. It's pleasant, but only in the last third does the song really get going, and then it's over almost immediately afterwards.

If I was producing the song, I'd reorder the song so that both verses play before the chorus, but with the second being a bit more intense, followed by a shorter chorus, then the bridge, and then a longer chorus and post-chorus.

Edited June 20, 20241 yr by Doomotron

I think it's a solid song but on first listen it didn't really grab my attention and keep it. I don't know what exactly it is, but Chris' songwriting style from MOTS is continuing to let me down a bit. Overall I think it's like a 6/10 for me. 

The Good: The guitar is more audible than many songs on MOTS. The build up at the last 45 seconds or so is pretty nice, good strings, interesting ambient sounds. There's some nice details in the mix as well, some xylophones, some shimmering harp chords. It's nice to hear the e-bow make a return. The chorus is undeniably catchy but very similar to Higher Power.

The Bad: I really don't like the production, again, Max Martin and this band don't mix well in my opinion. I've now listend on headphones and a speaker and just didn't care for it. The bass is turned up to loud, it feels messy at times like they were frantically trying to make sure you'd hear the acoustic guitar, but no wait! There's strings too! And why not let's turn up the electric guitar a little to get that in there too but then immediately mute it and throw in a little random bass lick from Guy with the strings. If this song was actually mixed and performed like a classic Coldplay song, it's a great listen for me. But this lowkey production and basic drum loop makes this song sound like it was clearly recorded in seperate studios and patched together. Then lyrically, there's really nothing there. It's just the same old platitudes Chris has been singing about since 2014. That's my opinion. Maybe it will grow on me. 

I liked it a lot. I didn't have any major problems with it. I think it could've used a bit less production and the la-la-la-las in the pre-chorus were pretty mid on the lyricism part. I personally think that it was initially going to say I know, and then have a little bit of instrumental but then someone said it needed a bit more stuff going on so they added la-la-la-la-la-la. The first half pre-chorus reminded me of clock's pre-chorus as it has the same incomplete though (you are vs I know). I feel like people are assuming the la-la-la-las were out of laziness but I don't think it was. I think this song beats everything on MOTS except for coloratura. Apologies for the tangent on the pre-chorus. I give the song a 9.5/10

I find it a little boring, flat, not exciting at all. Which in a group like Coldplay it´s really surprising. And I understand that somebody coulds say it´s like a mix of "My Universe" and "Higher Power", and as I feared, for the bad reasons. It´s an extremely easy-to-listen song, I expect much better things from Moon Music.

People say it's better than higher power, maybe the chorus is better yes but the outro of higher power is better than this song as a whole, lyrically they both are bad but i think Chris tried more on Higher power

11 minutes ago, Galal said:

People say it's better than higher power, maybe the chorus is better yes but the outro of higher power is better than this song as a whole, lyrically they both are bad but i think Chris tried more on Higher power

I find it shocking how he has decreased over the years his lyric level, he has never been Dylan but...

Not great like a song from 15 years ago but better than MOTS songs (excluding Coloratura), sound more Coldplay. We feel Max Martin are in the place...

Message to Chris : Chris, take a pause to find creativy and be prood of your old albums.

Edited June 21, 20241 yr by thomasPh

I really wish the instrumentation was more prominent throughout the song... It feels so subdued until the final chorus. Also, the lyricism that was so eloquent and sincere is nowhere to be seen... I certainly hope the other songs on Moon Music will be better

Edited June 21, 20241 yr by lumfaothechinesehacker

The song is nice, but if a FLIFIL part 2 really exists, I hope it is produced by Brian Eno (he should have become the 6th Coldplay member since VLV).

It feels like... another boooring song🥱

Well actually, it feels like they're trying to be their new imaginary selves, holding on to the idea of being huge popstars. In fact, they start downgrading a fabulous career to the most generic bar all time. Not only production-wise but also definetly in terms of songwriting and composing. I'm not against popmusic but they've made so much better earlier (ASFOS, HFTW, AOAL, SJLT, Orphans and even Higher Power stood out for me). But maybe it didn't catch me today and will grow on me in a new moon phase🌚

15 minutes ago, johnnymax8652 said:

The song is nice, but if a FLIFIL part 2 really exists, I hope it is produced by Brian Eno (he should have become the 6th Coldplay member since VLV).

Tbh I'm not interested in hearing an alternative version of this i would rather having another song to take this spot on the album.

The part 2 could be a short reprise like The Beatles did with Sgt Pepper.

The track isnt that good

They can do better then this, this just sounds too repetitive.

Somehow its catchy, but thats all, it gets boring soon.

Hope there last album will be more alternative rock.

 

2 hours ago, johnnymax8652 said:

The song is nice, but if a FLIFIL part 2 really exists, I hope it is produced by Brian Eno (he should have become the 6th Coldplay member since VLV).

Part 2 (if real) would just be an interlude surely

2 hours ago, Galal said:

People say it's better than higher power, maybe the chorus is better yes but the outro of higher power is better than this song as a whole, lyrically they both are bad but i think Chris tried more on Higher power

Right now I’m liking Higher Power more, but I’m one of those weirdos that loved it from the first moment and never really understood the backlash for it (the rest of MOTS is another story entirely) 

My opinion in a nutshell: I think it's really well done, overall good vibes, but goes to a list of "not interesting" songs - don't want to say boring.

In Coldplay catalog it's filling in another gap. It's definitely mixing a few things and adding a little new piece of puzzle there. It's unique in a way, that it's a quite laid back song, but really elevates for a poppy chorus and climax. So in a way for me it mixes the essence of Magic and energy of Higher Power.

The production is actually quite nuanced and the ambient textures really elevate the verses. After a few listens I really got into appreciating the production. It's a very pleasant listen, nothing super interesting, but well balanced and atmospheric. It breathes well and isn't too tightly packaged.

The songwriting could have used a few more nuances and twists, but it's difficult to point out what exactly, I guess in the end it's just very Coldplay song. Meanwhile I like that it sounds organic and not overly forced, but this is not a song which gave them chances to make something super interesting. So the song just seems one of those very straightforward ones, just how they've been coming from Chris in the past decade. The problem with this song is that the climax only works properly in live performance.

In conclusion, have to talk about it in a context that this is supposed an introduction and first taste of the Moon Music. Yeah it's giving me really good hopes for Moon Music album, because I definitely liked the overall atmospheric and more organic vibe of FLIFIL. For now it gave me hope it's going to be at least better than MOTS and AHFOD. This lead single definitely is more alternative sounding than Higher Power and AOAL, so I hope it's a sign for the rest of the album

56 minutes ago, CP-EST said:

My opinion in a nutshell: I think it's really well done, overall good vibes, but goes to a list of "not interesting" songs - don't want to say boring.

In Coldplay catalog it's filling in another gap. It's definitely mixing a few things and adding a little new piece of puzzle there. It's unique in a way, that it's a quite laid back song, but really elevates for a poppy chorus and climax. So in a way for me it mixes the essence of Magic and energy of Higher Power.

The production is actually quite nuanced and the ambient textures really elevate the verses. After a few listens I really got into appreciating the production. It's a very pleasant listen, nothing super interesting, but well balanced and atmospheric. It breathes well and isn't too tightly packaged.

The songwriting could have used a few more nuances and twists, but it's difficult to point out what exactly, I guess in the end it's just very Coldplay song. Meanwhile I like that it sounds organic and not overly forced, but this is not a song which gave them chances to make something super interesting. So the song just seems one of those very straightforward ones, just how they've been coming from Chris in the past decade. The problem with this song is that the climax only works properly in live performance.

In conclusion, have to talk about it in a context that this is supposed an introduction and first taste of the Moon Music. Yeah it's giving me really good hopes for Moon Music album, because I definitely liked the overall atmospheric and more organic vibe of FLIFIL. For now it gave me hope it's going to be at least better than MOTS and AHFOD. This lead single definitely is more alternative sounding than Higher Power and AOAL, so I hope it's a sign for the rest of the album

I only agree with you on the first paragraph, but it´s nice to read such a deep explanation about your thoughts. Thanks!

Edited June 21, 20241 yr by edupoint

3 hours ago, Galal said:

Tbh I'm not interested in hearing an alternative version of this i would rather having another song to take this spot on the album.

I'm thinking the same. That would be less than ideal. 

I still find myself wishing the guitar in the last chorus was a hair louder but that's to be expected with any Stargate/Max Martin produced album, I suppose. Once Chris starts singing I can't hear it much/if at all. 

4 minutes ago, HowCouldIForget said:

I'm thinking the same. That would be less than ideal. 

I still find myself wishing the guitar in the last chorus was a hair louder but that's to be expected with any Stargate/Max Martin produced album, I suppose. Once Chris starts singing I can't hear it much/if at all. 

The song needed an instrumental outro or an instrumental break between the bridge and the outro 

It looks like my early positive reaction to the snippet was premature. @lennyrott1 and @Doomotron described the shortcomings perfectly well. What I AM interested in is the very ending of the track from 03:34 to 03:57 where they have this magnificent almost Pink Floyd-esque composition of strings, synths and guitar that sounds extremely interesting. If they had incorporated these elements throughout the song and altered the horrendous over-production, they might have been able to save the song.

Everyday Life was made only 5 years ago and showcased how this band can still write good music, and yet they consciously continue down this path of mediocrity. 
 

Edited June 21, 20241 yr by nvdmm

I dont understand why they choose these kind of tracks

Why not just be more alternative like in the past?