Natalie Imbruglia: "Coldplay can't have their song back!"

Ex-Neighbours star discusses her 'beautiful' Chris Martin-created song

Natalie Imbruglia’s upcoming album features three tracks recorded with the help of Coldplay's Chris Martin, including what he claimed could have been the 'best Coldplay song ever'. "I feel very lucky to have it and he’s not having it back," she laughingly told 6 Music News about the song which Martin hadn’t initially intended to give to her.

The track from, Come To Life, is called Fun and the Torn singer told us about the first time she heard it: "When I went into the studio and he said, 'I’ve finished the song', and he sang it to me, I nearly did one of those ugly cries because it’s so beautiful."

Back in March, Martin joked to Heraldsun.com.au that he half wished Coldplay had kept it, but was excited about the final product. "She sounds brilliant on it. I think she has a very unique talent and an incredibly unique voice," he said. The song is "really simple and not overdone but kind of awesome at the same time," Imbruglia explained. "It’s really big, lots of strings. There’s just something so emotive that I think is really stunning."

Imbruglia has released three albums including her 1997 debut, Left Of The Middle, and is now signed to Island Records. She revealed she was on the verge of releasing album number four when the prolific songwriter and successful Coldplay frontman got in touch. "That was an opportunity that was too good to refuse," she admitted. "So I went back in the studio. I had to get rid of some songs and re-jig the track-listing but he was really, really helpful with all of that and brutally honest with me which was great."

Martin ended up writing two tracks for her and helped her re-work one of her own. Meanwhile Brian Eno also worked on an album song called Lukas, at one stage during its evolution, but at no point was Imbruglia in the studio with him. "They’d been working on that track for their last album [Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends], but it didn't end up making it onto the record, so that’s why Brian’s name is on my album, which is amazing, but he actually wasn’t there in the room when I did my version of it, it was Chris," she explained.

Musically, Imbruglia said we can expect a varied album, which introduces more electronic sounds and dance beats, and focuses on themes of love. She played to a very select crowd at the Lexington in London last night (19 August) ahead of the album release on 2 October.

A song called Want has also been long-awaited by Coldplay fans since March, when Chris Martin claimed it was some of his best writing to date. But Coldplay won't be performing it. The track will appear on Natalie Imbruglia's new album, Come to Life, debuting October 15th. Listen to a sample of Want now at Natalie Imbruglia's MySpace page.

More discussion on the Chris Martin / Natalie Imbruglia collaboration is at the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks lostsides]

New pictures of Coldplay at Koengen, Bergen, Norway (19th August 2009):