[X10Y] The meaning of X and Y, according to Chris Martin

Warning Sign - You are about to travel back 10 years, to 2005. Get in the DeLorean, quick!

Chris Martin has been talking about the mysterious reasons behind the name of Coldplay’s upcoming new album ‘X&Y’ and how his band missed out on a huge money bonus from EMI for delivering it late.

Coldplay’s new album, the follow-up to 2002’s 16 million selling ‘A Rush Of Blood To The Head’, will be entitled ‘X&Y’ and will be released by Parlophone Records on June 6. Frontman Chris Martin has revealed where the record’s name came from.

He went on to reveal that the delay in the record’s release (due to the band not being entirely satisfied with the tracks included) not only caused a dip in their record company EMI’s share price, but also meant that the band themselves missed out on a hefty bonus.

“Deadlines be damned,” he explained, “It was all to do with fiscal years and shareholders anyway. Once we forgot about the money we were free to push ourselves to the very limits and make the best album possible.”

Chris Martin also confessed that he still often doubts his songwriting ability, something that caused problems when penning both ‘X&Y’ and its predecessor, which nearly spilt the band.

“I still spend at least 60 per cent of my time thinking ‘I can’t write songs.’” He explained, “I don’t see myself as brilliantly talented, but lucky to have met the right combination of people who fit together like a jigsaw so you can’t see our individual shortcomings.”

The delay of X&Y was also attributed to Chris' last minute attempt at adding the 'standout track of the album', much to the disliking of their record company: