Pitchfork: Eno Not Done Monkeying With Coldplay's Formula

Pitchfork media reports today that Coldplay have kicked Chris Martin Out... of the studio. It's OK. Breathe. They also write about Roadie #42's journal entry from yesterday, and Chris Martin's collaboration with a mystery artist. Here is their article:

Admit it: Viva la Vida, Coldplay's first trip into the Eno-verse, has held up pretty well. These guys are some of the last honest-to-God stars on the face of the Earth, and they would've been just fine if they'd just kept biting "Clocks" over and over. They didn't have to head into the studio with a legendary genius producer who pushed them to tinker with their epicness in all sorts of unexpected ways, but they did it, and it worked out.

When that chorus kicks in on "Lost!", forget about it. Game over. (Also, because of Viva La Vida, this happened.)

Last month, we reported that Coldplay were striking while the adult-contempo arena-alt was hot and hitting the studio with Brian Eno once again. And thanks to a post on Coldplay's website, we now have some insight into what, exactly, these guys all do in the booth. The post is credited to the mysterious "Roadie #42", and according to this guy, Eno's not done monkeying with Coldplay's formula.

Apparently, the band usually builds on frontman Chris Martin's demo recordings. But Eno's trying something else out: Banning Martin from the studio, keeping just his vocal track in most cases, and letting the other three dudes build the rest of the songs themselves. The other dudes, understandably, are amped.

Reports Roadie #42: "Often, they come in first thing in the morning and listen to Chris's idea once, before going out into the live room and working up something based purely on how the song 'felt' to them on first listen, paying little heed to what chords he chose or how the melody sat." Chris Martin better watch out because pretty soon these guys might start demanding their own close-ups in the videos.

Martin, meanwhile, isn't using his time off to think up even more ridiculous baby-names with Gwyneth Paltrow. According to that post, "he's up the road at another studio pouring out songs in a writing project with another artist." Roadie #42 doesn't say who the other artist is, but it's probably a rapper.

Source: Pitchfork