Famous Old Painter

It looks like Coloratura will probably be released at the same time everywhere. It's past midnight in Australia and NZ and there's no sign of it.

This is the track I’m looking forward to the most. I feel spoilt getting it so early

Look, if I could visit an alternative universe where MX and AHFOD never happened I would, but I can’t. This is who Coldplay are now and I’ve come to accept it. GS and EL are in my top 4 so I can live with this arrangement, and even the odd Newplay pop tune makes me smile when I’m in the right mood. It feels like beating a dead horse to say this, but I’d rather hear HFTW or SJLT at the gym than 90% of the radio pop crap they play. It’s not what I want Coldplay to do, but they do it better than most. I’ll never not be excited for new Coldplay, even though I have a good feeling MOTS may end up being my least favourite album from them. My Universe is admittedly pushing it, but I’m still open to how the rest of the album might sound. As for the live shows, I’m past the point of caring. I used to be in a touring band myself and I know people just want the hits. Playing slow or obscure tracks people don’t know just kills the momentum for 90% of people in the room, even if a few diehards love them. Playing Paradise and ASFOS instead of Warning Sign or Trouble in Town makes sense to me. The crowd are mainly there to see the hits and you gotta get them jumping.

What do we recon will be on Volume 2? Will it even be an album, or an EP, or what? So far I've got Original UFO, UATW2, The Race and possibly (unlikely) Car Kids. And I can't figure out if Alien Radio is an actual song or not.

When my fiancee heard it she compared it to Nikki Webster's Strawberry Kisses and like... she's isn't wrong.?

My Universe is definitely the most radio-friendly out and out pop song the band has produced up to this point, so whether or not that's something that excites you depends on your perspective. I can imagine Oldplayers violently retching. Fans of SJLT and ASFOS might dig it though. I can already tell MOTS will definitely not make my top 5 Coldplay records. But as long as it's better than AHFOD I'll be happy. Already the artwork is much better, so that's something.

Now we've had some time to sit with it, do we think Everyday Life counts as a return to Oldplay or not?

Doubt it would actually happen, but I’d be into it. Sounding more like Ghost Stories isn’t necessary a bad thing in my book.

Possibly. Though I'm a weirdo that has Ghost Stories in his top 3 so I'm not a great authority on these things

Here's my current playlist 1. Everyday Life 2. Church 3. Orphans 4. Flags 5. Champion of the World 6. Eko 7. Arabesque 8. Trouble in Town 9. Cry Cry Cry 10. Guns 11. Daddy 12. When I Need a Friend

I'm hesistant to say this album is a return to Oldplay perse, but I easily prefer it to Mylo and AHFOD. Maybe X&Y as well.

I prefer the YouTube mix. I like the message of the album version but the sample is just too violent and jarring to sound at home in a Coldplay song.

Not to make a big deal of this but, is Chris alright? He hasn’t been anywhere near his usual bubbly self in any of the EL interviews thus far. Even in the Ghost Stories era he was more upbeat. His comments on Glastonbury got me especially concerned; refusing to play there again all because of something some idiot on Twitter said. That’s very unlike him.

Orphans is really fun

Wow, I'm out of the loop. Look forward to seeing it soon then!

I'm worried there'll be a ton more Church-style lipsynching at the next performance if Chris' vocals don't improve

Yeah, sunset Jordan time. Which is probably tomorrow in your time.

There will be another performance at sunset

Chris lipsynching on Church makes this feel less like a live performance and more like a music video

My partner’s out of hospital now and alive and well. Obviously the road ahead is going to be a difficult and frightening one for both of us, but I’m staying optimistic. Thanks for all the love and support, it means a lot.

Thanks, Captain

I’m listening to Daddy at the moment and the beeping of the heart machine is in perfect tempo

My partner is hospitalised after she attempted to take her life today. I can’t say I’m holding together terribly well either. It’s... rough to say the least.

Sunrise - Would've made for a neat 30 second intro. Wears out its welcome pretty quickly. Church - It sounds very 90s, which is unexpected for Coldplay. It's quite a grower though. I like the singing at the end, gives it a real new-age feel. Trouble in Town - I like it, don't love it. I like when the full band comes in near the end, gives me a slightly Radiohead feel almost. I'm not sure about the violent sample though, feels pretty jarring. BrokEn - Kind of a generic gospel tune. Don't really need it. Daddy - Holy shit. This is one of the best songs Coldplay have EVER done. So unbelievably beautiful. Just incredible. Makes the whole album worth it. WOTW/POTP - Just a rough demo. Not really needed. Arabesque - An incredible tune, probably their best song of the 2010s, but doesn't really belong on this album. When I Need a Friend - Nice choral interlude. Really doubles down on the whole new-age feel. Guns - Meh. Not huge on the lyrics, and there's not enough going on with the music to keep me invested. Orphans - The best mainstream pop song Coldplay have done this decade, easily. Fits in with the rest of the album better than Arabesque does. Eko - Nice little celtic folk thing. It's ok. Cry Cry Cry - Didn't like it at first, but it's grown like crazy. Now it's one of my favourite songs. Old Friends - Pre-Parachutes vibes. Reminds me of songs like See You Soon. Pretty, understated thing. Bani Adam - Nice little piano bit in the first half. Not as sold on the second half. Champion of the World - The lyrics are really touching. Wonderful tribute to Scott Hutchison. But the music isn't quite clicking with me yet. Everyday Life - Works better in context of the record. Sweet closer. I don't dislike any of the songs, but I don't really love any songs other than Arabesque, Orphans and Daddy yet. Most of the tracks feel like song ideas and demos, which is fine but not quite as fleshed out as I would've hoped. No idea where I'd rank it yet, but my top 3 of Viva, AROBTTH and Ghost Stories remains firm.

This is my favourite song off the album by a huge margin (ok, apart from Arabesque). It's so beautiful