Coldplay's sixth LP celebrates it's 1st birthday today! The beautiful, electronic album has given us all countless memories. The album is very personal to Coldplay's frontman, Chris Martin, as he talked Zane Lowe through his inspirations for the album and what sort of effect it had on his life when recording it.

You can browse through our Ghost Stories forum, to take in some of the nostalgia from the past year.

To celebrate, Dexynboy on the Coldplaying forums, our resident audio enthusiast has released a fan made edit of Ghost Stories, including the deluxe edition tracks ('All Your Friends', 'Ghost Story' and 'O (Reprise)

Check out Ghost Stories (Dexynboy edit), along with other Coldplay edits, here

You can listen to the edited version of 'Oceans', as a preview, below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71xK7N1ocn4&feature=youtu.be

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The Coldplaying app

It's here! The very latest Coldplay news, updates, live chat, downloads & more, via your Android phone, iPad or iPhone.

IPHONE/IPAD

ANDROID

FURTHER INFO

If you have the app already, please introduce yourself on the 'Say Hello!' section and remember to rate us on the Google Play/iTunes store :)

Coldplay Live/Shows/Concerts/Setlists/Gigs 2015

There are no Coldplay concerts scheduled so far. Coldplay will headline a 'Why Not People?' show, believed to be sometime this year.

For 2015 live rumours & gossip, please check out our rumours section.

Upcoming Coldplay Events

Comedy sketch for Red Nose Day on NBC - 21st May

Fansites

Check out our Coldplaying accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! (ENG)

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Other popular fansites, who we recommended to follow:

Coldplayzone (IT)

The Atlas Project (ENG)

ColdplayCorner (FR)

Coldplace EU (PL)

Coldplay's sixth album, 'Ghost Stories' is about to celebrate it's first birthday and Billboard have rather surprisingly pulled out the party poppers a day early, by gifting Coldplay with the 'Top Rock Album'! The band were facing stiff competition against the likes of veteran rockers, AC/DC and Newcomer, Hozier.

A huge congratulations to Coldplay!

More on this, here

(Thanks gai)

---------

The Coldplaying app

It's here! The very latest Coldplay news, updates, live chat, downloads & more, via your Android phone, iPad or iPhone.

IPHONE/IPAD

ANDROID

FURTHER INFO

If you have the app already, please introduce yourself on the 'Say Hello!' section and remember to rate us on the Google Play/iTunes store :)

Coldplay Live/Shows/Concerts/Setlists/Gigs 2015

There are no Coldplay concerts scheduled so far. Coldplay will headline a 'Why Not People?' show, believed to be sometime this year.

For 2015 live rumours & gossip, please check out our rumours section.

Upcoming Coldplay Events

Comedy sketch for Red Nose Day on NBC - 21st May

Fansites

Check out our Coldplaying accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! (ENG)

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Other popular fansites, who we recommended to follow:

Coldplayzone (IT)

The Atlas Project (ENG)

ColdplayCorner (FR)

Coldplace EU (PL)

Ghost Stories era review - June 2014. Written by Coldplaying member, Grids (view the archive so far, below)

(January, February, March, April, May, June)

July 2014 was the magical month for the band and all Coldplayers around the world. Even though the shows during Ghost Stories era were held on a smaller scale, the band still made great efforts to make more intimate and interactive show experience for the best fans. Following from Royal Albert Hall shows on July 1st and 2nd, the best-selling album of the year, the band’s song collaboration on Wish I Was Here film played by Zach Braff, the band’s donation to ill-fan fundraiser, iHeartRadio Festival Lineup, the band’s video shoot for True Love, Yellow song for Boyhood movie soundtrack, Chris Martin on participating the music involvement for Prince Harry’s Invictus Games, ASFOS song for Apple’s Diversity advertisement, ASFOS Hardwell Remix song release, the first ever published online article on Chris Martin campaign in terms of Freedom of Exeter gains support, and Coldplay Horoscope app.

Photo Courtesy of Samir Hussein Blog

Royal Albert Hall shows on July 1st and 2nd

The most intimate show with around 5,000 people. The crowd and all the shout-out singing “oooaaah aaaah” that is clingy to a Viva La Vida song, one of the best Coldplay songs of all time throughout the music history, was beyond expectation that anyone wouldnt have thought the band would add the second show due to the excessive number of people to attend. Both shows had the same setlist as Oracle posted early on July 3rd:

3 July 2014 / submitted by Abe, United Kingdom

Q. Hi, what was the set list for the two Albert Hall shows?

THE ORACLE REPLIES >

The set list was the same for both shows:

Always in My Head

Charlie Brown

Paradise

Magic

Clocks

The Scientist

God Put a Smile Upon Your Face

Til Kingdom Come

Don't Panic

Everything's Not Lost

Ink

True Love

Viva La Vida

Midnight

Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall

Encore:

Oceans

A Sky Full of Stars

Fix You

The forum also discussed about the 2-day gig as well and Coldplayers commented on how amazing they felt to be a part of the show:

2nd July:

Here’s more snapshots from one Coldplayer on the forum:

Here is my review for both shows:

Ghost Stories as the best-selling album of the year

Coldplayers got back to the ‘Coldplay-ish’ excitement like their first time being a huge fan. Being the best-selling album of the year was an unexpected event for the band--too. This statement was also mentioned by Chris on his interview with Zane Lowe. He believes that the album is meant to be personal and suitably intimate for the gig with only 5,000 people. Call it personal--call it true!

According to Independent, “Coldplay's sixth studio album has been named the biggest-selling album of the year so far” as of July 3rd, 2014. As the best-selling album of the year ever, “Ghost Stories has sold over 375,000 copies since its release in May”.

During the first week of release, Ghost Stories sold over 182,000 copies.

The top-selling albums of 2014 so far

1-Coldplay, Ghost Stories

2-Paolo Nutini, Caustic Love

3-Ellie Goudling, Halcyon

4-Paloma Faith, A Perfect Contradiction

5-Sam Smith, In The Lonely Hour

6-Pharrell Williams, Girl

7-Bastille, Bad Blood

8-London Grammar, If You Wait

9-Beyonce, Beyonce

10-Arctic Monkeys, AM

The band’s song collaboration on Wish I Was Here film played by Zach Braff

Braff mentioned about how Chris came into an idea the song was sung by Cat Power and the idea was genius.

“Chris had the idea that it would be sung by a woman. I thought that was a genius idea, because one of the things the film is about is a strong woman [Kate Hudson’s character] becoming the matriarch of her family. When Chris and I were talking, we both kind of simultaneously said, ‘Cat Power.’ I reached out to Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) and she and I met and really clicked. I set her up to watch the film in her apartment. The whole time she was watching she kept texting me all the different parts she was loving. She said yes the instant it was over.”

Chris Martin appears to be the backing-vocals featuring Cat Power as lead vocals. The piano rhythm still brings the ‘classic Coldplay feel’. Listen to the full preview here on iTunes

The band’s donation to ill-fan fundraiser

Apart from being one of the greatest bands in the world, the band also are passionate with helping a hand in a community. “Briton Jody Duff, a long-time Coldplay fan, is battling with motor neurone disease, a progressive neurological condition that has confined him to a wheelchair”.

Through JustGiving page, he has raised over £42K for the disease including the donation from the band. The donation is still ongoing.

During Royal Albert Hall Show, Coldplay dedicated “Fix You” to Duff and invited him to spend time mingling backstage with celebs and guests. "We just want to send him, from us and from all of you, as much love as we possibly can,” Martin told the crowd.

iHeartRadio Festival Lineup

In July, iHeartRadio announced that Coldplay were on top of the list amongst other performers including Taylor Swift, One Direction, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, and many more. Coldplay part ran around 20 minutes. The shows were held on September 19 and 20. More information will be discussed in September.

The band’s video shoot for True Love

The spoiler for True Love video shoot was confirmed in Venice Beach, Los Angeles. Even though there was speculation of the unknown video that was made for, Luminario Ballet revealed about the video collaboration with Coldplay on Twitter.

the @coldplay video is True Love. We all have to wait to see how it looks I hope beautiful! pic.twitter.com/gpZ48GdtMN— Luminario Ballet (@luminarioballet) July 1, 2014

Behind the scenes:

Yellow on Boyhood movie soundtrack

The releasing movie of Boyhood on July 11th, the featured song ‘Yellow’ was played at the beginning scene when Mason is picked up from school

The featuring song of Yellow gives a good glimpse of looking back to the nostalgia where Coldplay made a huge hit on Parachutes album and this song was one those songs which made the band popular. Apart side of popularity, the song depicts to the movie perfectly following from the family in earlier years. The combination of both screen and song are just delicate and perfect.

Some reviews say about this feature song in the movie:

“Richard Linklater’s Boyhood begins with Coldplay’s “Yellow” accompanying an overhead shot of a six-year-old Texan, Mason (Ellar Coltrane), lying flat on his back and staring off into the daytime sky. The opening’s perfect balance of intimacy, grandiosity, and nostalgia sets the stage for writer/director Linklater’s unprecedented depiction of 21st century childhood and adolescence, shot over the course of 12 years with the same core cast of Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, and Lorelei Linklater (the director’s daughter).”

“It's a sensational filmmaking achievement, and one that's backed by an eclectic mix of music from the last decade - everyone from Coldplay to Arcade Fire, Lady Gaga to Blink-182 can be heard throughout the movie. It's a wonderfully nostalgic trip down memory lane and one carefully planned out by Linklater.”

Chris Martin on participating the music involvement for Prince Harry’s Invictus Games

‘The Ghost Stories Hitmaker’ had an opportunity to compose the anthem track for Prince Harry’s Invictus Games for September event in London. The Invictus Games was supported and organized by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry and the Ministry of Defence.

Take a look at the lyrics and give it a listen:

‘A Sky Full of Stars’ song for Apple’s Diversity advertisement

Apple published a video related to LGBT Pride Parade in San Francisco featuring ASFOS.

Apple’s Youtube Description:

“On June 29, thousands of Apple employees and their families marched in the San Francisco Pride Parade. They came from around the world — from cities as far as Munich, Paris, and Hong Kong — to celebrate Apple's unwavering commitment to equality and diversity. Because we believe that inclusion inspires innovation.”

Additionally, this was the first time for Apple sanctioned a group to march in the San Francisco Parade.

The idea of the video is to gather everyone to get involved and respect human rights, equality and diversity. The song that comes with it in this video gives a good vibe that it is suitable to be played in huge public events. The song has made a big hit alongside Viva La Vida and Yellow singles on Coldplay's previous albums.

ASFOS Hardwell Remix song release

The official Coldplay Youtube account posted this song at the end of July 31. Apart from the original record of the song, the remix appears to be another great exploration to the ‘Electro-house’ genre.

Give it a listen!

The first ever published online article on Chris Martin campaign 'Freedom of Exeter gains support'

Chris Martin is asked to receive an honor from his hometown in Exeter, Devon in addition to creating the great musicwork over 15 years. The campaign was started in July 2014 by Mike Vinnicombe, also originally from Devon, and has made over 6,000 followers across the internet. An article also was published earlier in July.

Follow the campaign on Facebook & Twitter and make sure to follow up on Chris Martin updates too!

Coldplay Horoscope

Have you heard of this fun app? Coldplay Horoscope was released on Google Play Store in July 2014. Discover your zodiac and the current event and song of the day that will appear on your mobile screen. A free app developed by Rafael Bautista, only available on Android if you are using. The language features in English and Spanish. Havent got one yet? Download the app now!

Next on the Ghost Stories Journey....August!

Massive thanks once more to Grids for writing the fantastic review above. Next up, we review August 2014 - a month full of goodness if you love Chris Martin!

Coldplay have treated us to many freebies in the past. They are no strangers to free downloads or even free concerts! There's also companies, such as Google, who just a few days ago had given away the band's latest album, Ghost Stories away for free.

In Google's case, their promotion in celebrating the 3rd anniversary of the Google Play store involved a free giveaway of Coldplay's sixth album, Ghost Stories (On Thursday 5th March to be exact). The album is usually priced at £4.99 on the UK store. It's unknown as to have much impact this move has made but it's surely a positive one either way.

Looking back, the largest giveaway, which made a considerable impact was the Violet Hill free download. The first taster from Coldplay's fourth album in 2008, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends caused a major talking point. It hadn't been the first song or album to do so, as in the previous year, Radiohead had released their LP, 'In Rainbows' to fans on a 'pay what you want basis'. The two coupled together raised questions about the direction of the music industry at that time and how much difference it would make to paid music. It was fair to say, if music is good, people will pay for it and Violet Hill itself had reached #8 on the UK single charts, it's peak position, despite being completely free to download for the whole week! It's sales were an estimate of around 9,000 during that week. Impressive but still drowned out by the huge number of free downloads (630,000 to be exact). The move was a success and had payed off for Coldplay.

During the Viva era, the band had also set up free shows in cities such as London and Barcelona. Fans could only win tickets by entering a competition on Coldplay.com. The London show, at Brixton academy was broadcasted live on BBC Radio 1. Then, we were given a new song, titled Death Will Never Conquer, in celebration of the new Viva tour!

The ultimate fan pleaser, which signaled the near-end of Coldplay's generous streak during the Viva era, was the free live album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft. It was something the band really wanted to do but there were difficulties due to the faltering economy in 2009 and issues with the recording contract, which didn't include live albums for free! This stumbling block was eventually passed and fans were given physical copies of the live album as a gift at live concerts, while fans also flooded to Coldplay.com on a busy Monday morning to download the live recording.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO0N6lTWyko

Coldplay's performance at the iTunes festival in 2011, during their Mylo Xyloto era had been available as a free CD to Coldplay fans in the UK, via the Sunday Times Newspaper. This was very minor though in comparison to what happened with Jason Regler's new invention at that time, the Xyloband! Their inventor, close to bankruptcy at the time, had attracted Coldplay, who were looking to take the concert experience to the next level. The rest was history and we saw the Xylobands debut in late 2011, much to the pure delight and amazement of fans in Europe.

The influence of Xylobands took tracks such as Charlie Brown to new heights and were kept by hundreds of thousands of fans as a precious souvenir. It came with a hefty price though, as it was easily Coldplay's most expensive giveaway, at over $7 million during the whole tour! This meant Coldplay had technically played many of their Mylo Xylotour shows for free.

Just a few hundred fans around Los Angeles were the lucky ones at the start of the Ghost Stories era, as they were given a chance to be part of a new Coldplay film, within a $4 million 360 degree stage at the Sony Studios. The unbelievable few nights for those Coldplayers turned out to be what we now know as Ghost Stories Live 2014.

Coldplay's Sydney adventure - June 2014.

The Ghost Stories review series returns. 6th part to the series. This month - Coldplay visit Tokyo and Sydney as they shoot the official video for A Sky Full Of Stars.

(January, February, March, April, May)

Online ticket mayhem!

Tickets went on sale on June 6th for Coldplay's impending show at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The demand was expected to be very high and fans were discussing various tactics for getting access to tickets as soon as they went on sale. Every plan soon went out of the window when 9.30am struck and panic ensued...

Gigsandtours/Seetickets were unable to cope with the demand, with just a few thousand spots within the venue to fill. This meant a lot of fans were disappointed. Some fans did manage to snap up tickets from the excess slowly released online during the weeks that followed.

Japanese fans go crazy for Coldplay!

The Ghost Stories 'mini tour' involved a return to the far east for Coldplay, who music fans go wild for in countries like Japan. Tokyo, Dome City Hall hosted an intimate performance from the band. There were rumours of Chris Martin being ill on the day, fueled by Chris' voice not being as sharp as usual but it didn't stop the pure excitement and delight of everyone at the concert or those of us who were listening online. The Coldplay frontman also complimented the crowd on their "Amazing haircuts!" View the setlist of the show below:

#coldplayjapan #ghoststoriestour - Tokyo, Dome City setlist - June 12th. pic.twitter.com/IcC4Drsy0e

 

— Coldplaying (@coldplaying) June 12, 2014

The band continue their Japanese venture

Coldplay attended the MTV Video Music Awards. Chris, Jonny, Will and Guy performed their first two singles from Ghost Stories, Magic and A Sky Full Of Stars

[soliloquy id=25519]

Kylie joins Coldplay at penultimate Ghost Stories show

They recorded

It was a mesmerizing show in Sydney, The Enmore Theater as the guys played through the plethora of Coldplay classic's. The main set was shorter than usual, with only 13 songs before the legendary Australian singer, Kylie Minogue joined the band in a performance of Nick Cave's Where the Wild Roses Grow and the re-take of Kylie's own song, Can't Get You Out Of My Head,

Coldplayer, Connor!42! posted an excellent review of Coldplay's Sydney show:

Coldplay film 'ASFOS' video on the streets of Sydney!

250 lucky Aussie fans flooded to the streets of Sydney, upon having a chance to feature in Coldplay's official video for second single, A Sky Full Of Stars. The concept was simple. To create a natural 'summery' video alongside the band's loyal fans and a colourful one too. In contrast infact to the previous video for Magic, which was in black and white, as well as being acting based.

The reception from the fans was largely positive for the colourful and simple video.

Quote from EC-JTR on the forums:

And Leigh Cockerill on the Coldplaying.com Facebook comments wrote:

Mystery surrounded the half-way point in the music video, when Chris Martin was standing in front of a shop window full of TV screens, while an apparent 'alternate' music video was playing in the background.

A Sky Full Of Stars (Avicii edit)

An Avicii edit of Coldplay's second single from Ghost Stories was uploaded to Soundcloud, as we took a listen to hear what the uplifting song may have sounded like if Avicii had his own way! The Swedish producer, with the real name of Tim Bergling was a co-producer for the eighth track on the album but Coldplay needed the ideal mix of Rock and Electronic dance music as Chris was determined to fit the song within the album.

Deluxe edition tracks on new 'ASFOS' EP

Coldplay were releasing an EP for their new single, A Sky Full Of Stars and the three tracks on the deluxe edition of Ghost Stories: All Your Friends, Ghost Story and O (Reprise) were about to be placed on sale for the first time worldwide. They had only previously been available on the US version of Ghost Stories, the Target special edition.

July next!

And that brings the Ghost Stories review of June 2014 to a close! Coldplay leave the Oceania and head back home to London, where they are getting ready for a spectacular concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Coldplay release sixth studio album - May 2014.

5th part to the 12 months of 2014 review series.

(January, February, March, April)

"Fix Yourself a spot of tea and a biscuit"

Chris and the rest of the band started out the album release month in comedic fashion, with a tongue in cheek preview to the appearance on Saturday Night Live TV in the US.

And then we almost saw the literal meaning of tongue in cheek as Chris, during a re-enactment of an 'Amazing Spiderman' kissing scene, took the place of Emma Stone instead of Andrew Garfield!! (watch from 3:45)

Coldplay capped off the....interesting show by performing their first and second singles from Ghost Stories, Magic and A Sky Full Of Stars!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Gd-0DZ1nk

Coldplay perform Ghost Stories concert in New York

As part of their intimate tour for the Ghost Stories era, the band arrived at the Beacon Theater for two shows. Their first performance was a 'mini setlist' in the early afternoon, which was the result of the huge demand for the show, in which tickets sold like hotcakes. The main scheduled show which was originally announced went ahead on the warm evening in New York, as delighted Coldplayers, a large portion travelling for farther afield to see their favourite band were treated to a slightly varied showing. Life Is For Living made its live return, for the first time since the end of 2011 and True Love  received it's first live play, to which Chris Martin prompted the fans not to record, in the same vein as A Sky Full Of Stars at Cologne .

Texasluvsjonny had posted her thoughts on the impressive Coldplay show.

A Sky Full Of Stars was catching on very nicely with the concert-goers, as Christa42 reported:

View the gallery, featuring hundreds of photos from the Beacon Theater concert!

Another Arm's leaks / The Indonesian iTunes incident

The release of Coldplay's sixth studio album was just around the corner and the iTunes store of Indonesia, a country with many dedicated Coldplay fans, was the recipient of some controversy!

Accidents do happen and the mishap which occured was Another's Arms being released instead of the planned release for Midnight. It resulted in the track being made available in Indonesia, where a very keen fan(s) downloaded the song after it was uploaded to purchase for a very short period. The track however, did not leak until a day before the album was expected to stream online.

Ghost Stories official streaming video on iTunes

The album was tipped to be streaming a week before its release, as members on the Coldplaying forums pointed out the patterns with recent releases at the time, including The Black Keys. On the Monday evening, most fans tuned into BBC Radio 1, as Zane Lowe replayed Chris Martin's emotional interview but revealed full clips of the previewed tracks instead. At the same time as the first full listen of opening track, Always In My Head, the news sparked of the official streaming for Ghost Stories and as quickly as that, an album we had been waiting months for hit our ears for the first ever time!

The stream was broadcast through the iTunes homepage and featured an animation of Mila Fürstová's artwork, the Czech born artist of the Ghost Stories era. You can watch the beautiful animation in motion below, with Always In My Head:

Coldplay 'Ghost Stories' Album Animation Stream from Trunk Animation on Vimeo.

First reactions to Ghost Stories & deluxe tracks surface online

Media reviews and fan reactions were pouring in on all fronts, as the eventful landmark of a Coldplay album release had passed once more. The latest Coldplay reecording was given a positive reception from Billboard and Stereogum, with the former rating the album 85/100. Pitchfork were not so generous however, with a score of only 4.4/10.

Check out the official Coldplaying.com review of Ghost Stories, here.

The three bonus tracks, controversially only available on the U.S version of Ghost Stories, through US only retailer, Target were heard for the first time online, a few days after the iTunes streaming. All Your Friends, Ghost Story and O (Reprise) were highly popular among the total of 12 tracks on the full album, with Ghost Story the standout track, alongside True Love and O, according to the forums.

Chris Martin explains more about the new album

Coldplay's frontman, just about to release an album containing songs which are of a very personal nature to him, had been doing the rounds across US radio stations, who were seeking to find out more about Chris, ahead of the May 19th release of Ghost Stories.

The singer amusingly likened the album to "An ice cream flavour" during his co-host session with Carson Daley of 97.1 AMP Radio:

And he also gave us further detail of the much discussed collaboration with Avicii:

On a seperate occasion, with Radio station, KROQ, Chris expanded on the secret filming in Los Angeles back in March, where they filmed Ghost Stories for an upcoming TV special, for the cost of over $4 million:

Coldplay release Ghost Stories, along with a breathtaking film!

May 19th 2014. The date had arrived and Coldplay release their sixth studio album and were set to top the charts worldwide yet again! In the UK, they were on course for a perfect six #1 albums in a row, now only one short of equaling a record set by The Beatles of seven albums hitting the top spot in a row.

Later on that night, NBC aired the Ghost Stories TV special across America and Canada, broadcasting the expensive studio the band had developed and where they created an evening of Magic for just hundreds of awestruck fans, including the breathtaking visuals of True Love (as seen below).

A Rush Of Blood To The Head classic returns as Coldplay rock LA once more!

Coldplay returned once more to Chris' new home, Los Angeles as they rocked the Royce Hall, playing out the entirety of Ghost Stories live, just as they did back in March. Not only did they perform the whole album in celebration but they surprised die hard fans by bringing back A Whisper, for the first time since Seattle in 2002!

The whole set had started off surprisingly with Atlas which was pictured to originally be on the album during the Sky Arts documentary showing the making of Ghost Stories. The joyful Coldplay fans in LA saw the return of The Scientist and many classics followed before the new album was played in full followed by the return of Yellow to finish the encore in style!

LVI56 on the forums expressed their delight at the unique setlist:

The Coldplaying gallery of the Royce Hall show.

The making of Ghost Stories

Sky Arts in the UK, who also aired the Ghost Stories film on the same channel, showed an exclusive filming of Coldplay at their bassist, Guy Berryman's house. It was an intriguing look how Magic came to be and at the early stages of the album, when Atlas was shown on an old album draft. Drummer, Will Champion also talked more about the inner band chemistry and what drives them on to succeed, while Chris explains the very personal lyrics within Ghost Stories. Lead guitarist, Jonny Bucklands tells the story of his anticipation with the release of Ghost Stories.

Interview - Making of Ghost Stories from We Never Change Peru on Vimeo.

Mr Champion's Tambourine

Coldplay performed live on The Voice USA finals, just after the release of their sixth record. The stage setup wasn't the usual though as we saw a series of pre-recorded clips on stage, creating an magnificent illusion, including Will Champion on tambourine duties!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIHDRVXPOFk

Coldplay's big weekend

The band returned to Glasgow, for Radio 1's Big Weekend, during a one-off festival-like appearance in which Coldplay delivered a masterclass for! In contary to the understated and more intimate feel of the era, the British born band delivered a largely up-tempo set to the energetic Glaswegian crowd, including Mylo Xyloto hit, Charlie Brown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q42KQnRoN4Q&feature=youtu.be

CP #Bigweekend setlist Paradise Charlie Brown Magic Yellow Clocks ETIAW True Love Viva La Vida Oceans A Sky Full of Stars Fix You

 

— Coldplaying (@coldplaying) May 24, 2014

Coldplay at Radio 1's Big Weekend - gallery

Magnifique Coldplay in Paris

As part of their Ghost Stories intimate tour, the band arrived at Casino De Paris, with a spring in their step. Coldplay performed a shorter set than per usual at just a length of 60 minutes but it was not short of quality moments, including the somber and atmospheric Oceans transcending into a giant dance party for A Sky Full Of Stars! (Note - Fix You was chosen over O as the final track on the night)

Another talking point of the Paris show was the soundcheck, as the band played A Rush Of Blood To The Head B-side, Crests Of Waves. It did not make the final cut however. Coldplay's 'creative boss' Phil Harvey described the crowd as the "best theater crowd he has ever seen". We have some stunning reviews on the forums for the Casino De Paris. Take a look!

Check out the Coldplaying photo gallery too. 

Coldplay dominate the world charts, with Ghost Stories!

Coldplay were up to their usual record breaking tricks as their latest effort became the fastest selling album at the time, in the UK and US, in addition to many various other countries across the world! Ghost Stories sold a total of 168,000 copies on its first week in the UK and over 360,000 in the US Billboard charts!

Coldplay on the Graham Norton show

Chris and Jonny featured on British TV, as they re-appeared on the Graham Norton show for 2014. The pair were interviewed on the famous couch, which included the likes of actor, Tom Cruise and performed A Sky Full Of Stars The lead singer and guitarist revealed the band's plans for a tour of Burkina Faso, tongue in cheek of course! Excerpt from the original article:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azpRwybCuPo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDL_Z0MF1mE 

What's next?

Coldplay, basking in the glory of Ghost Stories, head much further easts to the shores on Japan and Australia for more live concerts! Join us soon with a look back at the Ghost Stories era in June 2014!

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A month full of stars - April.

4th part to the 12 months of 2014 review series. (January, February, March)

We were (im)patiently waiting for the release of the Magic music video and for more teasers of Coldplay's new album, Ghost Stories, which was due for release on May 19th. Coldplayers were especially keen on A Sky Full Of Stars, which received rave reviews from the secret filming in March.

A Sky Full Of Stars confirmed as 2nd single

The extremely hyped 8th song off Ghost Stories was already confirmed as the next single, at the start of April. Magic didn't have as meteoric impact on the charts as first single usually has, possibly because it wasn't Coldplay's signature, highly paced intro to a new era. The first single was still a moderate hit none the less and reached the top 20 in the majority of worldwide charts and was increasingly being streamed on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

The apparent single cover art of an owl was tweeted by a reliable source, Warner Music South Africa but Coldplay fans on our messageboards questioned the authenticity of the image and the inconsistency with the Magic and Ghost Stories artwork

Rumours suggested the 'uplifting' song was set for release on May 5th, a week earlier than Amazon originally penned.

Magical video for the 1st single

The wait was over for the Magic video. 7th April saw the premiere of the black and white magic show on Coldplay's official Youtube channel :

Chris Martin played the split roles of good and evil, as Christophe and Claude. Actress, Zhang Ziyi performed the role of Cecile.

That was not all. An extended, colour version of Magic was on the way!

Chris Martin inducts Genesis frontman, Peter Gabriel into Hall of Fame!

Chris Martin remained a busy body outside of Coldplay's activities as he inducted Peter Gabriel, the lead singer of the historic progressive rock band, Genesis during the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.

Chris continued being his usual funny self, appearing to be reading from the book of Genesis while he read out; “An angel of the lord descended and appeared before Phil the Collins……and Phil the Collins said unto him, who are you O angel?” as Chris paused for a second, deep in character and relishing the speech before finishing with “I am Gabriel”.

Intimate 'mini tour' announced!

Coldplay revealed their live dates for the Ghost Stories era as they opted for tiny venues for the upcoming set of shows instead of the sweltering atmosphere of their previous stadium shows during the Mylo Xylotour. The original dates for the intimate shows can be seen below:

25 April – E-Werk, Cologne, Germany

05 May – Beacon Theatre, New York, USA

19 May – Royce Hall, Los Angeles, USA

28 May – Casino de Paris, Paris, France

12 June – Dome City Hall, Tokyo, Japan

01 July – Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

Midnight available to download, with official remix

Ghost Stories teaser track, Midnight was not available to download upon its debut in February. On April 21st, the 5th track on Coldplay's new album was available to download on iTunes and an impressive remix of Midnight, by veteran DJ, Giorgio Moroder :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DNcEFV1EE0

Coldplay, for a short while, conquered the iTunes charts worldwide with Midnight. The electronic, Jon Hopkins inspired tune reached up to #2 in many countries. This was partly down to Midnight being a 'instant grat' track upon pre-ordering Coldplay's new album.

Oceans revealed at BBC Live Lounge

In the midst of a very busy week for the band, Wednesday 23rd April seemed like any ordinary day but it was not, as the band visited the BBC Radio 1 studios and performed their current single at the time, Magic. Ok, nothing out of the ordinary there but hang on a moment, Jonny's guitar started ringing out in a sequence similar to the way he performs Spies, while Will's drum pad belts out a submarine sonar effect. It was a new Coldplay song the band decided to debut at the intimate studios and it sounded very atmospheric and equally impressive.

Coldplayers were automatically enchanted by Oceans, compared it to their earlier material from debut album, Parachutes, especially with comparisons of Spies.

Double header in Germany

Coldplay traveled to Germany for back to back shows in Baden-Baden and Cologne as they held a 'proper' Ghost Stories concert for the first ever time!

The big show many German fans were anticipation was their Cologne concert and the opener of choice continued to be Always In My Head as the beautiful intro sweeped across the compact stage of E-Werk. There were no surprises during the main set, which was aired on a radio stream for the many fans listening online. The radio stream was cut off after 11 songs, just before the band's encore was due.

This was on purpose, as Coldplay were about to debut their ridiculously anticipated track, A Sky Full Of Stars for the first time in a public concert. It was such a heavily guarded secret that Chris pleaded with the audience for the performance not to be recorded. This was acknowledged largely but a low quality recording did appear online, causing early comparisons with Rihanna's We Found Love. 

View the gallery of Cologne below.

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Chris Martin's heartfelt interview with Zane Lowe as new Ghost Stories songs are unveiled for the first time!

Coldplay's frontman never went into too much detail about the personal lyrics behind their then imminent album, Ghost Stories. That was until his pal and Radio 1 DJ, Zane Lowe secured a man to man chat, broadcast on the national radio station in the UK.

This was how Chris Martin himself summed up Ghost Stories:

It was an exciting time to be a Coldplay fan, as new songs were given their first preview on the radio station, with second single A Sky Full Of Stars, featuring Swedish DJ, Avicii as the producer being one of them. We had the sense that the much anticipated EDM inspired song was about to drop....

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A Sky Full Of Stars released worldwide & Jools Holland performance

That feeling proved to be correct as A Sky Full Of Stars was put out into the world, with generally a positive reaction. The involvement of Avicii and the EDM influence did prompt a mixed reaction in that regard. Chris was quick to show his enthusiasm of the track, when the band returned to the Jools Holland show and closed with their first televised showing of A Sky Full Of Stars .

Album lyrics hunt!

The cap off an eventful (to say the least!) April, where there never was a dull moment, Coldplay's official Twitter page revealed clues to a fan lyrics hunt, where the lyric sheets of each Ghost Stories song were hidden in libraries across the world. A library in Mexico City contained a set of lyrics for Magic :

You can view the lyrics hunt as it happened, here.

Coldplay's magical live return - March.

3rd part to the 12 months of 2014 review series. (January, February)

March had started and within 36 hours of the month change, we had gone from knowing nothing to knowing everything, about Coldplay's sixth album.

Call it Magic!

So, the burning question was the relevance of Midnight to Coldplay's upcoming album. We didn't have to wait too long for the answer as on March 2nd, the details of the band's new album titled, Ghost Stories were let loose on Coldplay's official website. Midnight was confirmed as an album track but it was only to be a teaser/promo song; Magic had been announced as the official first single, with the audio for the millions of excited Coldplay fans worldwide:

Magic received a generally positive response from critics, who often described the effort as a "return to form". The tune is more laid back than usual for Coldplay's introductory radio single and begins with Guy Berryman's bass solo. The track made an impact straight away, and charted at #10 in the UK singles charts and at 14th position in the US.

Ghost Stories

Let's get to the meaty part! The full tracklist was shown to us upon the revelation of the album title, Ghost Stories. The album appeared to be a short one, with only nine tracks, or possibly, a longer epic track in waiting. Three extra tracks were announced however, to feature on the deluxe version of Ghost Stories, which would only be available via US retailer, Target.

Ghost Stories was set for release on May 19th. Fans could also use a magnifying glass feature on Coldplay's official website to view the magnificent detail on the album cover.

Next single?

There was already talk of what Coldplay's next single from Ghost Stories would be, just a day after the release of Magic. This was down to not only the excitement of the album announcement but the listing of Ghost Stories on Amazon. The retail website had individual release dates for two tracks we had not heard as of then: Another's Arms and A Sky Full Of Stars, due on April 28th and May 12th.

Mila Fürstová

The artist who has been working with Coldplay for their sixth record was revealed to be Czech born Mila Fürstová. Jackiehawkins.com describes the artwork for Magic and Ghost Stories perfectly :

Coldplay's grand live return

Their live return was anticipated as much as the album announcement and was aired live online to millions of music fans. The venue was the iTunes festival, held in Austin, Texas for 2014. Another reason to cheer was the impending feeling that new Coldplay material was about to drop, for the very first time.

Two previously unheard songs, the beautiful and understated Always in My Head and the haunting Another's Arms debuted at the magnificent comeback show, which included the live first's for Magic, in addition to the set finale, Midnight. For Coldplay's electronic, Jon Hopkins inspired track, bassist, Guy Berryman play one of the band's new toys, a laser harp!

Video and Audio download links

[nggallery id=1018]

Top secret filming

In perhaps the biggest shock so far, a few hundred lucky Coldplay fans were invited or had won tickets to a 'top secret show' in Los Angeles, at the Sony studios. Little did they know, they were about to witness the first ever performance of Ghost Stories, in its entirety and no one else apart from them would listen to the album for a while yet. Not only that, Coldplay were filming a concert special for a new DVD!

A trio of shows on March 21st, 22nd and 23rd formed an unforgettable experience for many fans. The first two nights were mainly filming, as the audience were asked to play their part in front of the cameras, inside the unbelievable theater, which cost $4 million to make, for just the Sony studios venue! The entirety of the band's new album, Ghost Stories was performed on all three nights. Paradise, Clocks, Viva La Vida, Fix You and Paradise (once more) featured either side of the Ghost Stories set on the first night. The audience on the second night and third nights listened to Paradise, Clocks and The Scientist (which was the song of choice when Chris asked everyone on the second night). The third gig was not filmed we believe and had a larger crowd of up to 1,600 people.

Most importantly, these shows symbolised the scaled down approach Coldplay wanted to take for the newly arisen musical era. They wanted to connect to the fans on a more personal level and experience a different kind of energy and feeling, compared to the raw, adrenaline fueled energy accosiatated with the previous stadium tour for the Mylo Xyloto era.

The guessing game

Unlike Mylo Xyloto, where we were interpreting a song, such as Princess Of China from a low quality Youtube clip, there were no clips this time as any recording devices were strictly prohibited at Coldplay's exclusive concert in LA. Coldplayers were trying to find out as much information as possible, from the reviews of other fans who managed to see Ghost Stories debut in full at the Sony studios.

Many reviews were posted on the Coldplaying forums (including this one by Ostrich) and the general jist among the reviews of the previously unheard tracks was :

Ink featured Chris Martin on an acoustic guitar. A catchy, upbeat Coldplay classic. True Love wasn't described in as much detail as the others but the two words used were, heartbreak and Jonny Buckland's guitar solo! Oceans featured a 'ship horn' sound from Will Champion's drum pad and it's name lives up to the atmosphere the song radiates. O saw Will playing the electric guitar. A slower number which doesn't build up to a massive conclusion.

Eight track on the album, A Sky Full Of Stars received the most praise as was the standout for many fans. The hype of the track was incredible as all sorts of phrases were beamed across our forums. 'Best Coldplay song since Viva La Vida' and 'the next Yellow' were among them. Most Coldplayers made up their mind that A Sky Full Of Stars was the 'massive' track from Coldplay's upcoming album and definitely the one to wait for!

Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow separation announced

A trending post of news, which didn't involve Chris Martin for musical reasons, was in form of a separation announcement, made by Gwyneth Paltrow on her website, Goop. Chris' now former partner coined the term, “Conscious Uncoupling” (a word which doesn't frequent these parts!) when describing their break up. News spread quickly and it resulted in 2014 seemingly being a media frenzy for their romantic interests. The quote from Gwyneth's website post:

After this event, the lyrics of Another's Arms caught attention, with the words: "Late night watching TV, used to be you here beside me, used to be your arms around me, your body on my body". Ghost Stories was being refered to in some quarters as a 'break-up album' and the more and more it appeared to be about Chris' personal life.

The wait is on!

Ghost Stories was only under two months away and most conversation was focused on what Coldplay's sixth effort would sound like. Maybe we will find more clues or even hear a new song or two during April. What about the music video for Magic? Jonas Åkerlund had been named as the director for the new video, which was expected to appear very soon....

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Ghost Stories era: The introduction.

January 2014.

Review by Coeurli. First part of the 12 months of 2014 review series

2013 saw the end of the Mylo Xyloto era, the band's first song release for a movie, a break in live performances and a great desire from fans to finally get a new album. Reports from late 2013 suggested that the band were working on their sixth effort, but little did we know a new era would start and end in just a year! We start our journey of the Ghost Stories era in January, when rumours were spreading everywhere.

But first, let's see what happened outside of LP6..

# Chris buys Banksy's Heart Balloon for 650K$ (£395K) at Sean Penn's annual fundraising event for Haïti

On 11th January, Chris and Gwyneth took part in Sean Penn's Help Haïti Home Gala at the Montage in Beverly Hills. Bidding against E! Show host Chelsea Handler, Chris was really having a good laugh and won the auction and Banksy's 39x48' wood panel...at a record price of 650K$! Turns out the Xylobands may have not completely ruined them afterall!

The event raised money for the J/P Haitian Relief Organisation, which manages a camp for the most vulnerable populations after the disaster that happened in January 2010, and helps them build a brighter future.

# Golden Globes ceremony: Chris was there (with Gwyneth), as Atlas, their first-ever song written for a cinematographic piece, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, was nominated for Best Original Song...only to see U2 get the prize for Ordinary Love, wich served Nelson Mandela's biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. During his speech, U2 did acknowledge and thanked Chris..who helped them making the song!

# GRAMMY Awards 2014: Atlas was also nominated for 2 GRAMMY Awards, as Best Music Film and Best Song Written For A Visual Media. The ceremony took place on 26th January. Both categories were treated before the main telecast show, and unfortunately Coldplay didn't get any award.

Now let's get to it: Ghost Stories!

#On the forums, speculation on the band's sixth album had started a long time before 2014, as the thread for LP6 was created in August 2011, even before the release of Mylo Xyloto, the band's fifth effort! Still, speculation was going particularly strong at the beginning of 2014, as Coldplayers were getting impatient and debated on possible sounds, atmosphere , release dates or even strategy – could Coldplay pull a Beyoncé and release an entire album at once without any single nor previous warning?

Head here for a good laugh!

#This speculation was greatly fuelled and encouraged by various reports from people working in the industry:

- In late December: Digital Spy was one of the firsts to state an estimate for the release of Ghost Stories, based on a source from Kylie Minogue's label (thanks Tash). At this point, rumours from media and the forums were feeding each other, as they stayed very vague – The Guardian was amused to read LP6 would sound like "a mixture of old and new Coldplay" – and only mentioned a release near April/May, which actually turned out to be right!

- According to various reports from media and tweets mid-January, the band was in recording sessions in LA.

- Mark Poston, the Managing Director of both Warners Bros and Parlophone Australia mentioned in an interview to The Music Network that a “new Coldplay record [would be] coming soon".

He said: “A Coldplay record is coming soon, which is exciting. As a band, they’re really keen to reach new heights and make their best record ever” (thanks gai).

And let's not forget Anchorman, who posted old music videos such as Talk, Don't Panic or Life in Technicolor II, carefully choosing quotes such as “Time for some music boys and girls!” (for LiT ii). What a tease!!

# But perhaps the most incredible rumour on LP6 this January revolved around the title.Whilst speculation was going as usual, with the occasional Wikipedia joke (George Ezra's Older Adolescent...really?!), a tweet revealed what would turn out to be the real title for LP6, Ghost Stories!

(thanks gai and Jonny and the cake for posting it on the forums)

Some of us laughed at how ridiculous and fake this story definitely was (I for one am glad I didn't make any bet or promise that I would shave my head if it was true ), others started to think of what it could mean for the sound and atmosphere of the upcoming album. With the title for LP7 revealed live on radio by Chris himself a few weeks ago, it looks like our favourite frontman has trouble keeping album titles secret!

#We also had false hopes with that Q Magazine article entitled "Q gets inside Coldplay's triumphant return", as the March 2014 edition revealed its cover and was then published near the end of the month...

While Coldplayers were getting excited on finally getting proper news and perhaps some inside details on Ghost Stories, which at the time was still officially known as "LP6", the article turned out to "only" be a review of the incredible show Under 1 Roof, that Coldplay gave us in December 2013, featuring appearances of the likes of Lily Allen, Robbie Williams or Ricky Gervais as David Brent.

To sum up, whilst January 2014 was rather quiet on the official front, the speculation towards the release of Ghost Stories was getting strong and we finally had hints from inside that the album was on its way and would be ready “soon”...But how soon? The game was on!

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Coldplay opened for the first ever BBC Music Awards yesterday evening at Earls Court in London and gave us a scintillating performance, as Xylobands featured in a Coldplay performance for the first time since Under One Roof 2013! In a music celebration with over fifteen different artists such as Ed Sheeran, One Direction and Take That, Coldplay performed their single of the year nominated song, A Sky Full Of Stars.

It was the penultimate appearance of the Ghost Stories era and the band themselves were nominated for single of the year, with A Sky Full Of Stars. Unfortunately, they lost out to Happy by Pharrell Williams. Chris Martin appeared in a series of clips during the show, talking about each nominated artist for the British Artist of the year, including, Ed Sheeran, Elbow and David Bowie (you can download the videos here).

Pre-show Coldplay huddle, courtesy of BBC Music on Instagram

Before the show, there was excitement as everyone walked into the arena with crates full of white Xylobands surrounding the entrance! The new bands flash in different colours, as opposed to the one set colour we were used to during the Mylo Xylotour. Before actually getting to the Xylobands and here's the part you don't hear about, there was a stampede of people rushing towards the doors, as they opened. 1,000 fans were present for the 'inside' queue, mainly fans of One Direction, some waiting since 4am. To say they were eager to get in was an understatement! Security staff were overwhelmed in a crazy five minute rush. It's fair to say, if you go to an event involving One Direction in the future, be sure to expect crazy stampedes as part and parcel of it!

The pre-show entertainment started at 19:30 as the camera, moving across the stageside, filming the excited crowd wearing flashing Xylobands, contained a screen of lyrics next to it with "Cause you're a sky cause, you're a sky full of stars", indicating the first song and the expected choice for Coldplay's performance, considering it was up for the single of the year award. The BBC Music Awards presenters, Fearne Cotton and Chris Evans rehearsed in front of the awaiting audience, minutes before the show was due to go on air to BBC Radio 1,2 and BBC 1 in the UK and across the world. We were told to make noise when Chris Martin comes on the stage and before Chris' backstage intro took place, Jonny, Guy and Will were ready and waiting on the stage (see heading photo).

You can watch the energetic performance below. As is often the case, particularly at music events where many artists play, sound is sometimes edited to make the atmosphere sound much better but not in this case and it was even more evident inside the venue, with general music fans warming straight away to Coldplay and with Coldplayers going wild of course, in a sea of Xylobands and confetti stars!

Exclusive Gallery

We have exclusive photos from the BBC Music Awards (Thanks to the BBC / Rory Connolly) including Chris Martin's backstage chat after Coldplay's performance. Check them out!

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Check out the clip of Chris Martin backstage, talking about Paloma Faith below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_LIQaOcukg&feature=youtu.be

Download

The video of Coldplay's performance, including snippets from Chris Martin reviewing some of the nominated artists on the night is available on the Coldplaying forums now! (With massive thanks to KaeEM)

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Soundcheck - Paradise and Ink

Chris was asked by a fan who had written (or faxed!) a letter to give some inspirational words to his 12 year old daughter.

The Coldplay frontman, on the backend of his speech was told he would make a great vicar, to which he replied, "well, our record deal is up soon"! The guys concluded their morning performance with Ink, which you can listen to below:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3CxxCl53G4

Chris and Will's pre-show chat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bi95-8Y8oUColdplay's lead singer and drummer took off to prepare for their later shows, as Guy and Jonny were ready to answer your questions, with Jo Wiley.

Coldplay Q&A - With Guy and Jonny

Guy agreed with, "Yes, you put that very well, i'll use that". When asked who they would choose to swap with if they could be another Coldplay member, Jonny revealed his interest in drumming. He says current drummer Will likes his drumming but only to be nice! Sitting down during a concert would be another feature for Coldplay's lead guitarist! Guy, on the other hand, would want to be in Jonny's shoes for the day as he would imagine life as being "calm" and "very peaceful"It was certainly great to have Guy as the lead interviewee and listen to his views, alongside Jonny's. The duo discuss Christmas presents and favourite Christmas songs in the twelve minute long session, which you can watch below via our Youtube channel.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qykgQTsrqlw

Showtime!

A sky full of confetti stars (and a TV camera crane). #ColdplayBBC A pic.twitter.com/CNJukqC4cJ

— Coldplay (@coldplay) December 8, 2014

The final chat - with Chris and Will

Remember? The incident 10 years ago was Jonny telling Chris, "i'm sick of your s**t", as mentioned on the Zane Lowe interview before the release of Ghost Stories. A few more facts were revealed about A Head Full Of Dreams, as you can see below :

Lights will guiidddeee you home! Now playing : Fix You #BmwWelt #ColdplayMunich Stunning photo from Cheeetaz on forum pic.twitter.com/HC6NKqSqEM

— Coldplay News (@coldplaying) December 6, 2014

Coldplay announce next album title!

GRAMMY nominations

Coldplay on The Voice in Germany

Exeter Auction - Coldplay tickets

Coldplay Q&A and Live TV interview on the BBC!

Have you got a burning question for @coldplay? Tweet it using #R2Coldplay, and watch Ask Coldplay, Mon 8 Dec, 5:30pm pic.twitter.com/RVnAjO0m9G

— BBC Radio 2 (@BBCRadio2) December 5, 2014

A Message from Chris, on Japanese TV

A video posted by Sango (@sango5d) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:31pm PST

A video posted by Sango (@sango5d) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:23pm PST

Ghost Stories Art Exhibition update

We just sold the original @coldplay @MilaFurstova @KidsCompanyUK http://t.co/cYaSKWiiv6 pic.twitter.com/hZLxh1atYJ

— Album Artists (@AlbumArtists) December 6, 2014

Coldplay concert in Munich 7PM CT

Noel Gallagher on how Coldplay would respond to U2's latest release

Heading image with thanks to BBC MusicFor dates further than the next few days such as the BBC Music Awards, check out our Coldplay event guide for December!

Coldplay's frontman, Chris Martin has been talking to Beats Music as part of a comprehensive track by track walk through of Coldplay's latest album, Ghost Stories. We have already seen the video of Chris telling us his inspiration for second single, A Sky Full Of Stars but this amazing new interview covers the in's and out's of Coldplay's sixth LP.

I have written a full transcript of the whole interview so you can read through at your own leisure and also translate if you wish. Throughout this interview, we learn the thought process behind Ghost Stories, Chris' inspirations, life meanings, Jonny's guitar effects and what Ghost Stories may have originally been called!

Chris Martin on Ghost Stories as a whole

"The way I would describe Ghost Stories is the journey of going through a challenge or an ordeal to come out a little bit stronger and happier at the end. Not as a toolkit for that but just as a way of accepting that something crazy is happening whether its a loss or a challenge or something business, whatever it might be. Not letting it break you but letting it make you". There's this Japanese artform called Kintsukuroi where if you break a bowl, you fix it with gold and its more beautiful at the end than it was before and that's what we were trying to sing about."

"I felt like and I asked the rest of the band if it's alright if we do something a little smaller and more intimate. That just seemed to be what was coming out. I don't know where songs get sent from but they get sent from somewhere and the ones that were coming out were a bit more intimate and personal, then the title Ghost Stories...I like to write a list of titles all the time and that just felt like that fits with a more mysterious vibe. I dunno, it's hard for me to explain these things, they just feel write. I made the decision around 12-14 years ago that because I don't have the gift of Shakespeare with lyrical brilliance. I was like, well, i'll just try and be honest, that's all I can do so as time goes on, i'll just try and do that. For this one in particular, I was going through stuff in my life and friends of mine were going through stuff and I just don't wanna bulls**t with what i'm singing about and I know for some people it won't resonate but maybe with other people it will so I just trust as I get older, as we get older, we'll try and trust my gut instinct even more. Obviously certain writers and critics are not gonna like this but that's ok, they're welcome to their opinion but I never question what i'm singing about because I need to sing to get through the day."

"Well, music for me is one of my greatest friends, it's how I make sense of every day. I like to work a night time and yes, complete cophasis. It's wonderful, I love it more than ever! I have this amazing teacher who tells me books to read and tells me of this poet from the 13th century called Roomie who i've never really heard of and I started read that stuff and it really changed my life and how I looked at certain things. There's a poem called The Guest House which is about imaging yourself as a house and every morning, a new thing knocks on your door and a challenge, something great or something terrible and the jist of the poem is whatever comes to you, you welcome it. That was a completely fresh prescriptive on life for me, so that really changed everything and I just kept reading more and more of his stuff and I still am and it's really about embracing all that happens to you and that was seeping into the music that was being written at that time"

1) Always In My Head

"When I think of the song, Always In My Head, I see it as an acceptance of, ok we're going to go down this road of being very vulnerable to somebody. For a lot of us in life, it's a real decision to like, am I gonna open myself up to somebody else or life itself and that track, every time we play it live, or every time we're working on it, that just reminded me, ok, like the question you asked earlier, do you feel comfortable singing about this stuff. This song makes me feel, just do it! be open to life and even if its a bit sad sometimes, its also going to be amazing. That song is like an acknowledgement - this is really going to be personal."

"About 4 years ago, I went to see Leonard Cohen play in Los Angeles and he did 2 songs on a really cheap Yamaha keyboard like we all learned on and it sounded amazing so I got one and its the same one since I had when I was a 11 and wondered if any songs would come through and that track, Always In My Head came through like that. It was like how I used to make music when I was 12. I felt really innocent and there's a note on it that shouldn't be in it and I like that one. You really want me to tell you which note? Oh god.....i'll tell you which note ! It's an A on a G minor chord haha!"

"The reason why my kids are on the album is because they came to the studio one day after school and I couldn't get this note and they were with one of their friends who is called Mabel and said is there way you guys will just try this and they were like, sure dad so they tried it for 3 minutes and it sounded so lovely. I thought it just sounded right"

2) Magic

"Well, the song Magic represents a big deal for me which was that even if i'm talking to you on my own, we are very much a band and we always have been and we are more than ever. In our personal live and our professional lives, there's this thing that links us where we would do anything for the others and its a very powerful feeling, to go have gone through everything we've been through with the same group of people. We knew each other when we had nothing. I think the rest of the band, this was about 2 years ago, were like, oh something is up with Chris and i've been asking them for ages, please can someone please start a song and they were like, no, we like the system as it is. I like that system too but I came in one day and Guy said, oh, we've got something you may like to hear. They played me this loop and I thought it was just awesome and this song called Magic appeared in about 5 minutes and to be it represented them...I needed them as friends at that time and it delivered. They also provided our first single and that was handy!"

"Our videos are a funny thing and when you sign a record contract, it's one of those other bits of the job you don't really think of when your a kid, unless your Beyonce who's just a born angel and genius in all departments. With videos, now, we just try to come up with something that...I don't think of it as acting but expressing what's within the song without just singing it to camera because that's a bit boring sometimes. I do like dressing up sometimes but I don't think of it as acting. The idea of the video is most men are both nice and not so nice and it's a question of which one you're gonna let win. It was either a big metaphor or just a chance to fly around on wires! I saw Pink once flying on wires and thought, I should start doing that!"

3) Ink

"The track Ink came from...we had an old song called See You Soon which was written in about 1860, when we were first forming! and I was trying to remember how to play it and I forgot and sometimes, when i'm doing songs on guitar I do different, strange tunings so I was trying to find the old tune but I couldn't remember it. But this other thing sounded nice and that song just arrived."

"Well, I know, this is not what you wanted to hear but I don't know how to explain lyrics. They don't mean the same thing for any two people I think. I don't even know what that means really, it just came out like that, haha! I like to start off with a title and then see what happens."

4) True Love

"The video for True Love and the song, I don't even know if they do compliment each other. I was at the circus with my children a few years ago and I saw those fat suits and they were doing these amazing acrobatics (Side note - Those Russian guys Chris was referring to before maybe?) and then we got in touch with that guy who was making them and said, please can you can make some for our video? and I don't know, I just felt like it would be nice to have a story involving those things. Now that you're making me think about that, now with videos, there's a chance to try new activities haha...and try and write a story around that activity."

"Ghost Stories, because of it's nature, it sounds like its one person talking to one person so instead of thinking of, how will this sound to lots of people in a concert, it was more like, how would this sound to one other person? and the reason why our band started was because Jonny's guitar playing....he does things musically which I don't think of and he surprises me and it's like a conversation in lots of our songs really where I would sing my melody then I never know what he's gonna come up and most of the time, like the song. He (Jonny) just has a way of writing melodies that is perfect....I just love his playing so much. And in that song, we are always saying go and do a solo one day and he's like, 'I don't do solo's' and we sort of got him to do....and that's his standing on a mountain / moment. That's why being in a band is the best job in the world because your best friends bring in bits of music that you wouldn't of thought of and you piece it all together and you get Optimus Prime!!"

"Well, I met Timbaland a long ago over a bowl of fruit, which he devoured at about 4 o clock in the morning and we wrote a song for Nelly Furtado and I was like, I like this person and he was playing with Jay Z last year, on tour and they were at the studio with us in London on a Sunday and I think we all had the same hobby which is, music! So, on everyone's day off, we all went to the studio and he's so fun to work with, like Tim (Avicii), because he just feels it, it's pure feeling and it's very inspiring to be around him and that day, I said oh, we have this song and there was something not quite right about it and he (Timbaland) said, oh let me have a go and he just helped Will with one base drum sound. The rest of the beat was already there from Will but he brought this bounce in."

5) Midnight

"Well, the track Midnight is similar to track Magic in that the original music didn't come from me so that was a track by this guy called Jon Hopkins, who is a talented man who makes his own albums and I said to him one day while he was in the studios helping us out with this other song...I said oh, have you got any bits and pieces that I could sing on and he said, well, I got this one thing....and we stole it! When I say stole, we agreed a very lucrative contract between the two of us and give him the due credit! I see Midnight as been, well its a bit like Always In My Head. It's a reminder of...it's ok, we're here at the moment. You don't need to do a banging rock track right now. This is how we're feeling and embrace it. It was fun to work on. I like anything where you're singing then you can make it sound weird. I was looking for new ways of changing voices and that's really the only one where we've tried that's actually worked. Most of them actually sound really funny. On the track, i'm really talking about how I feel about Harry Potter! Not really! It is hard to decipher, I agree but I am singing real lyrics and they're not the worst of lyrics either. The phrase, 'leave a light on'. That's probably to yourself to say to keep going and yes, that is a Roomie quote : 'The wound is a place where the light enters you' and also, the first place I ever heard that was in a Leonard Cohen song as well called Anthem. There's a crack in everything, that's where the light gets in. It's such a great idea!"

"I mean, in England, where I was growing up, we are very much a culture of keeping your feelings down and suppressing them and not admitting if you were broken or going through something and that was great. That was how they were doing it then but I like the other way of, you admit that you are fallible or broken or you need....you know because it brings all these blessings with it because you say how you're actually feeling. The truth is, it is probably an album about heartbreak but it's not saying that somethings broken so you should just give up. It's saying, something is broken so lets work out how to fix it and make it better than it was before because that's what all the great poets and great teachers seem to say is that if you stick and go through something, the blessing will reveal itself. I mean, there's stuff going on in the world right now which you can't imagine why is this happening, it's crazy. I don't what it is but if you didn't have faith in the universe that somehow, something great will emerge at the end, then we would all give up and that would be a waste of everyone's time! That would be terrible! So that's why the record has to get to a record called A Sky Full Of Stars because it has to end on a 'well ok something got broken but hey, what you're gonna do? you're not gonna give up, you're never gonna give up. That's the best thing my Dad ever taught me."

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6) Another's Arms

"Right, so Mike Dean is a guy (Side note - Not the Premier League ref!) who works with Kayne and does amazing stuff. There's a guy called Steve Stout who was in the Rockerfella camp for a long time or Defjam, one of them but anyway.... he said 'oh, you should work with this guy called Mike Dean' on another track,so we called him up and asked if he would help out and he said, well, 'i'm free until 5, I'll do some bass!' That tends to be how it is. Well, like I said, we're very very lucky we get to work with people like that and what I think is good about dipping into more of the hip hop world is that they are used to doing track by track stuff, so no one's worried about, this is just one song or one bit. You look at the credits on a Kayne record and each song has like 9,000 people on it!"

"Thank you saying it seems seamless. At the time, it seems really unseamless so its only at the end, when you tie it all together. The woman at the beginning of Another's Arms is Oprah Winfrey! No, it's not Oprah Winfrey, she said no.....we didn't ask, i'm making it up! It's uhhh uhhh, I don't know who it is, it's a sample...it came from a synthesizer, that's called Denise!"

7) Oceans

"Oceans, i've always had this imagine of the pier in Brighton, in the south of England. So, there's a pier on this pebble beach and the image I had in my head of that is, being through this thing like in like lots of books and films, someone goes on a journey and then I just felt like on a certain point, you just wanna wake up on a beach and everything seems ok and everything makes sense. So that song, always, to me, err.. the end of it particularity, just felt like you completely give in to life and say ok, I trust whatever is happening. It's a song about trust".

8) A Sky Full Of Stars

Watch the partial video "I know that this song, in this point in the album, A Sky Full Of Stars, needs to be about unconditional love and accepting whatever is happening to you as being what's supposed to be happening to you as difficult as that might be. Also, I want it to be a song where, you let loose and if you can jump up and down to it, all the better. That song, really, ended up being inspired by EDM, which some people turn their nose up at but then you go and see an EDM thing and people are so together and having the best time so I was like, f**k it! I love that stuff so I want us to have a song that comes from that world but to also to have it be about something that means so much to me, so it isn't throwaway at all, it's the most important song we've ever had, lyrically because everytime I sing it, i'm like yeah, that's how I wanna live my life and it took me a long time to be able to write that song or receive that song to say yeah, whatever's happening, I embrace it, even if someone thinks my band is the worst band on earth, it must be how its supposed to be and as it turns out, there's a few of them, so there must be many blessings."

"I love that song, I know it sounds bad to say that in music but I love that it's come out of this dark place and it was the last song to be written and you know, I was asking for it for a long time, like please send me this song, that's like, it's ok, everything's ok because we've got all these others songs going through this journey and we need this like door opening to the sunrise."

"A Sky Full Of Stars came out around 11.30 at night and it took....it came out in about 7 minutes. Well, I think there's a freedom at around 11 o clock at night where you feel like, you're not bothering anybody, you know...no one else needs you or there's nothing else you should be doing. It might come from the tradition of just reading about your heroes, whether its Quincy Jones or whoever, all these people who like to work at night-time. There is something just calm and you feel a bit more connected to the outer reaches of things. You have to not be worried about anyone else not hearing it because there's a certain switch you have to flick to say i'm gonna follow it wherever it goes and sometimes it goes down a dead end and doesn't sound really good or you're singing nonsense or you have to really let yourself go free. Well, i'll tell you the truth....I was listening to a lot of Katy Perry, that she does with Doctor Luke and a lot of her songs have the same chord sequence the whole time. Your body feels comfortable with them and the melodies changing. There's like a groove you really get into and also you're kept interested by and that's an amazing way of doing songs, then I realised all these other people who have done that. Nirvana being a classic example. Smell's Like Teen Spirit is the same chord sequence basically, the whole time, or Wild Thing, it goes way back, so there was a simplicity to that so I just need to find a sequence I can play for ages, ages and ages, so I was just looking for that for a long time and then one just came out. So i'm just going to keep playing that sequence and see what comes on top of it."

"So this probably happened on a Wednesday and I was in Los Angeles and the rest of the band were in London and we weren't supposed to see other for a week or so but when the song came out, I was desperate to record it and put it as a demo and the next day, I was in a studio called The Village and I think I just called them up and said, there are certain parts of this we don't really know what we are doing in terms of, I would really like to jump up and down to this you know but we're not always experts on that so let's call Tim (Avicii) and he's such a sweet man and err...yeah so, I should him the song and said please can you help? and he said, with his backwards baseball cap, yeah, that will be $12 million, hahaha! No he didn't say that! I was with him for the first bit of the Avicii version but then he goes into like the bat cave of Avicii. You're not allowed in there! I don't know what he's up to but he did an Avicii version and then we did a full Coldplay version and then we spent weeks like, weaving it all together, essentially playing tetris or something, you know what I mean? For f**king hours, hahaha! That's why it took so long. Like we'll try this with this or this with this. That's where really the time is spent, cooking the bit. I think it had to be contexualised because Will said to me, I thought we were making a very personal Ghost Stories record? and this is great but how does it fit? so that's when we were really putting the structures together and I said well, in the end where you just say yes and you wanna let get go and in a concert, if we're playing this whole album, there would be a point where I would be like, ok, i've got that out of my system, now let's go dance!"

"Once I said that to Will, he's like, ok, got it. Once they [The rest of the band] knew what we were doing it for, then they could how it fi.....well, I gotta be honest with you, it's really fun performing that song. I think when you start out, especially as a songwriter or a singer, there's an element of you that's looking for approval for whatever reason. I think actors, a lot of people who want attention so there's the song writing craft which is one discipline, then there is the need to perform or the need to get approval which, if you're lucky, dissipates as you get on with it as that's not gonna make me happy but what does make you happy is if you are playing a piece of music and everyone looks into it and so far, when we've played that in the few concerts we've done, there's just such a collective ermm... feeling."

9) O

"Well the last track is called O and its also a song called Fly On, so there's two songs really and the final one is segment of the song from my kids, essentially saying, don't ever let go. I just think its a nice thing to be told. In the same way of having the rest of the band on the song makes you feel alive and part of something else. I dunno if its just the sound of kids singing or particularity my kids singing but it just makes me feel reassured and embraced somehow. There's a certain warmth to it and the song that proceeds it, is another song about trying to get to a place where you are happy for the people around you. As long as they're happy and whatever it is they choose. I guess its about unconditional love I think. That's talking about birds and I don't mean to be mean but i'm not a big fan of people putting birds in cages because to me, that thing can fly, how can you do that? its crazy. So, it's that feeling of, do your thing. No, no, there's no birds chirping! That's Jonny been a bird on his guitar. Say what you like about him, he does incredible guitar animal impressions (Side note - Cow like noise during ARROBTH). That will ultimately be what we fall back on! hahaha!

*Interviewer - What's the meaning behind the title? The actual word looks like a full circle*First of all, thank you for getting the album so well. It feels so good when someone is like, do this mean this? and i'm like yes. That comes from a book by Shel Silverstein called The Missing Piece and it's the idea that nobody is our missing piece, we shouldn't have a missing piece, we're all whole and ermmm......he wrote this beautiful cartoon book about that where, at the end, two O's roll off together. I thought that was a nice way of looking at things. Whether your 15 or you are 55 or 80, it's like, well i'm whole, I don't have a missing piece, you've just got to find that wholeness within. Does that make any sense? I'm trying to think of a movie equivalent but I can't. *interviewer - Buckwiser (?) remind me a little bit of the darkness* That's a great book and that was an influence also. The Alchemist, infact one of titles for the album was Alchemy, before we decided on Ghost Stories and that book is amazing but that's what it is. What you need is there, it's in you. You just had to have the right people to help you get it out. I need to say this on camera but even I feel nervous to talk about this spiritual element of the music but I really firmly believe in it and its really helped me in my whole life so I wanna talk about it so whether its not really what you do, as a frontman, I shouldn't be talking about it but also, I want to so I have, now its too late since I've done it but i'm proud I've done it haha!"

And there we have it, the most in depth look into Ghost Stories we are likely to get! It was a wonderful interview to listen to. The audio is exclusive to Beat Music subscribers but where there is a will, there is a way on the Coldplaying forums ;)

Chris Martin has been talking to audio company, Beats By Dre about the making of A Sky Full Of Stars and how the upbeat EDM inspired song is the most important song Coldplay have made lyrically. The latest behind the scenes video features various instrumentals of Coldplay's second single from Ghost Stories as the frontman goes into further details about the album and the role of A Sky Full Of Stars on it.

Chris expands on the meaning of Ghost Stories : "Ghost Stories is probably an album about heartbreak but it's not saying something is broken so you should give up, it's saying, somethings broken so lets work out how to fix it and make it better than it was before"

Coldplay's frontman, looking very cheerful, adds Katy Perry to the list of his musical influences for A Sky Full Of stars and talks about the simplicity of the chords used and how classic tracks such as Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit have used the same chord sequence. The simplicity of the track really endeared it to Chris.

Chris Martin wanted to have a song that comes from the 'EDM world' as "people are so together and having the best time, so I was like f**k it, I love that stuff so I want us to have a song that comes from that world but in terms of, I would like to really jump up and down to this / we don't really know what we're doing, that's called Avicii" "I showed him the song and said please can I help and he said with his backwards baseball cap, yeah, that will be 12 million dollars!" Chris laughs followed by "Nah, he didn't say that"!

The recording process of A Sky Full Of Stars involved the mixing of a Coldplay version and an Avicii version and as Chris quoted, it was like "Playing Tetris for f**king hours". As many may know, 'ASFOS' was the last song written on Ghost Stories, as the 'final piece of the puzzle' and Chris described it as "the most important song we've ever had, lyrically because every time I sing it, i'm like, yeah, that's how I wanna live my life"

This may give us a big clue to the songwriting direction of Coldplay's next album, with a 'celebratory' album already being touted, it will certainly be likely to include many upbeat anthems such as A Sky Full Of Stars where tens of thousands of Coldplayers can jump in 'togetherness' during the next Coldplay world tour! You can watch the interview by Beats music below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ78bwKOUs4#t=253

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@COLDPLACEeu @ColdplayAtlas Just spotted that @WarnerMusic_PL removed details about the Munich gig from their site. pic.twitter.com/weDgLANMhF

— StoriesOfGhosts (@StoriesOfGhosts) November 2, 2014

Link to official ticket vendor

Link to live Munich show discussion on the messageboards

@coldplaying : It's a very nice video ! I love it.

— ChrissyBliss (@Chrissygirl075) October 31, 2014

@coldplaying Its a great teaser to get people to buy the DVD, you watch the short clip and want so so much more lol

— Melissa (@jammtarts1874) October 31, 2014

Ink - Live 2014 Promo Single

BREAKING NEWS: Coldplay's "Ink" enters BBC Radio 1's C-List on Monday. #Confirmed pic.twitter.com/MHK4CCHVeK

— Atlas Project (@ColdplayAtlas) October 29, 2014

New live performance date!

People's Choice Awards 2015

VOTE for Coldplay to win @peopleschoice awards for "Favourite Group" and for Ghost Stories to win "Favourite Album" http://t.co/VYDypfyZfo

— Atlas Project (@ColdplayAtlas) October 21, 2014

Chris Martin returned to the Dan and Maz show down under earlier today as he revealed more of his thoughts about the next Coldplay tour and his friendship with Coldplay's fifth member, Phil Harvey to the Australian DJ's during a delicious and brief interview.

Chris' friendship with the Aussie pair has grow even stronger since his light hearted interview with them at the end of September. The modest and cheerful Chris started the chat off with, "I'm very grateful to be speaking to you".

Listen Here

Download link

The Next Coldplay Tour

The news you really want to hear and I know many Brazilian, Mexican and Indonesian Coldplayers, just to name a few nationalities, are restlessly awaiting the sound of Coldplay's footsteps. The expected world tour has been on Chris' mind lately as in his own words...

Chris said the band had not really toured during the Ghost Stories and then the frontman, sounding very keen, stated :

Maz curiously responded, "What's on the list, where are you going next?"

It looks like Coldplay's next tour may just be their most ambitious yet folks!

Chris on his best friend, Phil

Chris talked to Dan and Maz about his special friendship with the 'creative head of the group', Phil Harvey, who actually studied at Melborne Univeristy and lived there for 3 years.

The humble frontman reminisced over how they first met, which was during school, when they were both 13....

And there we have it, the simple forming of an everlasting friendship, one which formed the backbone of Coldplay as we know them!

It's very assuming listening to Chris during this and his impression of his 13 year old self. He also joked that his voice broke 10 years later!!

Behind the Scenes - Ghost Stories live 2014

The DJ's revealed there will be 'behind the scenes stuff' for the upcoming Ghost Stories live 2014 DVD/CD/Blu-Ray set also stating Phil is choosing the behind the scenes clips. Dan asked Chris whether he was nervous about some of the potential content to which the singer replied :

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Michael Jackson's Colon

Not quite the heading you were expecting to read but with the humour of Chris, Dan and Maz, this is where the conversation headed!

Chris started it by mentioning he hasn't eaten today as the subject turned to fasting diets, Chris joked about Michael Jackson fasting and then was handed a quote by his friend!

CM : Michael Jackson said that, that's an actual quote"

Late night watching TV, after Midnight during the 'dark core' of Coldplay's Ghost Stories. Another's Arms is mysterious yet simple in the lyrics and undoubtedly haunting.

Welcomed back with open arms!

On the 11th March, Coldplay returned to delight millions of fans tuning in across the world, at the iTunes Festival in Austin, Texas. Another's Arms was one of the two previously unheard tracks (with opener, Always In My Head) performed on the night. The first live version of the sixth Ghost Stories track wasn't polished and appeared as more of a ballad, coupled with a brilliant Jonny Buckland solo guitar near the climax of the track. The 'woman's voice', which is believed to be computer generated, adds the haunting element that's prevalent through the studio version. The song was generally popular with the watching fans, who were greatly impressed by Jonny's role.

The Indonesian 'exclusive'

Indonesia, a country with many dedicated Coldplayers, who are all eagerly awaiting the day Coldplay arrive in their home country to what will be a rapturous reception!

Accidents do happen and one happened at iTunesHQ a few weeks before the release date, which was Another's Arms being released instead of the planned release for Midnight. It resulted in the track being made available in Indonesia, where a very keen fan(s) (who is probably reading this!) downloaded the song after it was uploaded to purchase for a very short period. The track somehow managed not to leak until a day before the official streaming!

Chris' journey

The lyrics of Another's Arms are of a personal nature to Chris Martin and the words "Late night watching TV, used to be you here beside me, used to be your arms around me, your body on my body" are seemingly related to recent event's in Chris' life and are part of the open and honest nature of the album as a whole. When trying to make sense of these lyrics in the context of the album, the Ghost Stories film/TV special gave us an insight into the emotional story.

It appeared as if Chris had a shadow hanging over him and to set himself free (jogging to the taxi), he needed to reflect (On the pier during Oceans) then come through even stronger with the shining light at the end of the tunnel (A Sky Full Of Stars). What do you see? Watch the clip below from the secret LA show (not Las Vegas as the video suggests!)

The release and reaction

By the time Ghost Stories was officially released, Another's Arms was the 'quiet' track of the album, already being played numerous times by fans since the iTunes Festival and because of the excitement of previously unheard tracks such as Ink and True Love. The studio version is distorted with more of a 'restless' feel than the live version in a way which really captures the mood of the darker section within Ghost Stories.

The reaction from the fans post-release was once again, largely positive with over 50% of the votes being 9 or 10 out of 10!

Now, for a set of great fan reviews on Another's Arms

Wilson on the messageboards gave the haunting track a perfect 10!

Ronnie O Sullivan (Presumably a big fan of the famous snooker player!) posted a very interesting comparison to the Major Minus studio version.

A detailed and postive review was written by RhysBP

and SeeYouSoon42 does not rate the lyrics, which is a common criticism for the track.

Wait for your call...

The next stop : The lonely pier for Coldplay's seventh and very atmospheric track from Ghost Stories, Oceans.

Coldplay's third track from Ghost Stories, Ink could be the next single as it was revealed earlier today that the uplifting track has been released to US Alternative radio stations.

(Thanks Coldplayzone.it)

This move could signal a surprise U-turn from back in August when Ghost Stories artist, Mila Fürstová, released her fantastic artwork for the third single, True Love, mentioning it's the final single from Coldplay's new album. Mila did however, recently talk to Coldplaymag on Tumblr, to point out the release schedule is not set in stone.

Coldplay news has been far and few between recently with Coldplay back in their London studios but with the busiest quarter in music almost in full swing, there may be one last promo push for 'Ghost Stories' before the focus moves on to Coldplay's next effort. The under performance of the single, True Love (Akin to Lost! after Viva La Vida in 2008) may have a great influence in Ink swiftly proceeding it as the next single and we had possible clue when Ink was preferred at the iHeartRadio Music festival last month. We expect more clues or even a confirmation on the way if the fourth single proves to be true.

From upon the first listen of True Love and Ink, the songs we did not much about until the official streaming of Ghost Stories, the popularity of both songs were almost equal, with 'Ink' winning by a whisker on the majority of polls. Now, the two tracks will go head to head, which one will win? You decide!

Click here to go to the forum poll

Here's the article I wrote about Ink a few months ago as part of the Ghost Stories article series, titled : Ink – Catchy, fun and upbeat!

Steph Curtin was involved with the Facebook discussion :

Our moderator/co-Tweeter, Coeurli shared her opinion on Coldplay's anthemic desire and the end of a 'spiritual journey'.

Now, the opinions from fans who are not convinced by the inclusion of 'ASFOS' on the album : lennyrott1 voted in favour of a ASFOS-less album

A short but to the point comment from Daniel Lumpkin on Facebook

Poll Results

40 million views!

Coldplay - A Sky Full of Stars (Alternative Video) from arthy on Vimeo.

Earlier today, Chris Martin visited DJ's Dan and Maz at the 104.1 2dayFM studios, based in Sydney, Australia. Coldplay's frontman co-hosted an hour special on the Aussie radio station. Coldplay news has been few and far between in the past week as the band are enjoying downtime (or are recording the seventh album!). Chris has been on a journey down under, presumably not just for today's light hearted interview but it was a relaxed and very funny Chris appearance which was a joy to listen to!

Chris reveals his favourite track from 'Ghost Stories', the band's ambition to achieve the 'perfect song' as they seek to better 'Yellow', 'fat suit Friday' in reference to the True Love music video and much more fun and silliness!

You can find the listening/download link here!

The highlights in text format from the interview are below. It's a wonderful and laid back session, a great listen!

The music

Chris Martin's personal favourite from Ghost Stories : "My personal favourite song on the album 'Ghost Stories' by Coldplay is called 'A Sky Full Of Stars'." Maz shares a laugh about Chris' wording of 'by Coldplay'!

When Chris was asked about an interview with 60 minutes where he said they are still trying to write the perfect song and the closest they got to it was 'Yellow' : "I think we're still trying, We're still trying hard everyday"

On the decision to film the video for 'A Sky Full Of Stars' so suddenly within Sydney : The band decided to film the Sydney video about 3 days before because they had already shot a video which "everyone in the world would agree, wasn't very good" (Errm, Coldplaying doesn't think so!)

The laughs

on the subject of celebrating 'Silly hat Tuesday'. Chris Martin replied "Who doesn't", followed by "We have fat suit Friday so every Friday, we just do that and say lets make it into a video".

Chris On the band getting snapped : "One blessing we have as a band is that we don't have any flattering angles so just shoot...do your thing, we can't lose!"

The DJ's talking about 'Coldplay tribute band' : Chris jokes, "There's one called Oldplay which is all 80+ people", to which Dan asked "Oh wow, Really??" and Chris said "No there isn't but there should be". "It will exist in a couple of years. In 2017, we are officially dropping our C".

The track which started the wonderful 'Ghost Stories' era. The story from the beginning and a follow up to the 'Always In My Head', 'Magic', 'Ink' and 'True Love' articles throughout this era so far.

Before the dawn of 'Ghost Stories'

On Tuesday 25th February, all was quiet on the Coldplay front with just rumours of 'Magic' being a single due for release in May according to music release schedules and 2 unknown animated images posted on their official website a few days before, something unexpected happened. Out of nowhere, Coldplay uploaded a brand new music video for 'Midnight' to their Youtube channel and millions of Coldplay fans across the globe tuned in to experience the fresh track. The first reaction for most of us would of been 'Is this really Coldplay'? The downbeat EDM esque track with electronic ambiance, inspired largely through a co-producer of 'Ghost Stories', Jon Hopkins (it was built over his unreleased track, 'Amphora') was a surprising direction and largely different from 'Atlas' towards the end of 2013. At the time of the video release, we were clueless as to whether Coldplay's new song was a single, just a teaser and when it would even be available to download 'Midnight' was initially received with mixed reviews from fans and critics. The most notable response was across various music forums were some general listeners who were not particularly fond of Coldplay, warmed to the taster track while Canadian newspaper, the Toronto Star, did not not think highly of Midnight's release strategy. The buzz track 'Midnight' was intended to be worked well as it amassed just short of 10 million views on Youtube before the 'Magic' video release a week later.

The 'Trippy' Music Video

The music video for 'Midnight', which was released at midnight in Mongolian time, featured the whole band for the first time since the 'Charlie Brown' video in 2012. Their appearances in the clip were very 'ghostly', shrouded in mystery of the forest where the official video was shot. Director Mary Wigmore captured the essence of the song in the same way

Laser Harps - 'Midnight' Live

'Midnight' debuted live on Coldplay's live return at the iTunes Festival in March as it brought a new instrument to the array of others Coldplay have experimented with over the years in the form of a laser harp! Guy Berryman was the sole operator to start off with before Chris couldn't resist bringing one of his own in later shows. Chris Martin's voice on 'Midnight' was sketchy on its first public appearance, which at first, took over 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall' as the final encore song and then had moved to the middle of the setlist for the 'Ghost Stories film' and 'mini tour' shows where Chris sounded much sharper and the song became a lot more accomplished live. 'Midnight', by the band's own explanation during a behind the scenes documentary of 'Ghost Stories', is recorded on a laptop and the laser harp was thought of to help transcend the studio version into a live performance scenario. The whole performance including the stunning version of 'Midnight' on that evening is available to watch or download below or on the forums!

[sociallocker id=40796] [/sociallocker]

Remix galore and the iTunes release

Being a mix of various influences along with a techno vibe, 'Midnight' was a popular remix track of choice for many DJ's including the famous Italian DJ and producer, Giorgio Moroder who pieced together an official remix for the ambient 'Ghost Stories' song, endorsed and released by Coldplay on iTunes. The MP3 of 'Midnight', the regular studio version happened to be available at the same time to download on the 17th April and was an 'instant grat' track for the forthcoming sixth album which meant every fan who pre-ordered 'Ghost Stories' would receive 'Midnight' for free! This in turn resulted in chart domination for a few days, as Midnight reached number 1 in a few countries and resonated in the top 5 of most major iTunes stores. Listen to Giorgio Moroder's brilliant remix below. Other remixes of the ambient tune include Jon Hopkins himself and Kygo).

Ghost Stories release - The 'dark core'

Upon the 12th May, we had the pleasure of listening to 'Ghost Stories' in full and while 'Midnight' was one of the least talked about tracks during the actual release, perhaps suffering the usual first track off an album 'constantly repeat until ears explode' status along with 'Magic', it still formed the 'dark core' of the 'Ghost Stories' album, surrounded by the heartbreaking 'True Love', followed by the dark, dulcid tones of 'Another's Arms' and the calm, atmospheric 'Oceans'. 'Midnight' stands out from every track within one of Coldplay's most diverse albums to date. It offers a different journey and experience to every Coldplay track. For those Coldplayers who prefer music videos which fit the song as closely as possible, you may rate it as your favourite video from the album and as Coldplay's introduction from 'Ghost Stories', 'Midnight' certainly won't be forgettable when we look back in a few years time!

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Coldplayer reactions

The reaction from Coldplay fans was positive for the 'trippy' fifth track from 'Ghost Stories', receiving many generous 10's on our forum poll.

A few fans on the Coldplaying messageboards have written reviews of their initial reaction when 'Ghost Stories' was released.

by Wilson

and RhysBP gives 'Midnight' full marks!

Late Night Watching TV...

Or reading articles presumably?! 'Another's Arms' is next in line to continue the series of articles I am writing for all 'Ghost Stories' songs. In the meantime, head over to the messageboards and let us know any opinions you have on 'Midnight'.

Coldplay are back for a stretch of live and TV appearances this week! After their secret warm up show at the 'Target' employees conference, the band enchant the magical theater of the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, burst into life on the stage of the iHeartRadio music festival in Viva Las Vegas and are amazed by magician impossible, Dynamo on UK television.

Coldplaying.com brings you the list of all the information and dates you need, including the times where you live for the live shows. Join in with the build up of Coldplay's superb stretch of appearances.

Coldplay live at the Ace Hotel, downtown Los Angeles

Wednesday September 17th - 8.30PM PT

The time and date where you live!

All Coldplayers will be glad to hear the sounds of the band performing live again, with Chris Martin's appearance at Sirius XM being the last taste of action back in early August. Coldplay.com announced the gig will be streaming live on CBS Radio or through the radio.com app for a range of mobile devices. The stage decor at the theater is simply stunning and was crying out for Coldplay's presence. Us Europeans have a tough decision to make! Stay or awake or wake up early?

Join in the hype and build here

Coldplay on Dynamo : Magician Impossible

Thursday September 18th - 9pm BST - on 'Watch' in the UK

Coldplay are set to be wowed again, just like Chris was in 2006. The famous magician, Dynamo will perform his own 'Magic' in front of the hitmakers. Non UK fans ar advised to keep their eyes on the messageboards for streaming links and videos from the show.

Watch the preview clip and discuss the show here

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Coldplay at the iHeartRadio music festival, Las Vegas

Friday September 19th - from 7pm PST

The time and date where you live! (Coldplay's exact appearance time unknown)

Coldplay return to the City of Lights as they walk on the ground of Las Vegas for the iHeartRadio music festival. Expect a shorter than normal, pop format setlist like the 2011 show but the Vegas spirit will be ever present as the band are sure to rock the famous music festival! Streaming links will be available on the forums closer to the event!

Jump into the build up and action with the Coldplaying community!

No more dates planned past those three but there are bound to be surprises just around the corner!