Coldplay
Ghost Stories

Are we sure we've listened to a Coldplay album? That’s what many must have wondered after hearing "Ghost Stories," the sixth studio album by the British band. 

Let me start by saying that from my objective consideration (so not dependent on personal tastes but derived from well-reasoned thoughts, as a music critic should always do) I have always considered Coldplay a good band, not a great band; a band that has stood out for well-packaged pop-rock, carefully arranged in both arrangements and melodies, more refined in the early productions, somewhat less so in the more recent ones, which are much more oriented toward chart positioning. Let's say that in a contemporary pop scene based essentially on banality, easy listening, and often empty and flat arrangements, they manage to produce rather serious but simple arrangements and show a touch of class; theirs is pop-rock, but it is not a hodgepodge of nonsensical sounds and, in a way, it also breathed new life into the modern scene, influencing many bands.

However, "Ghost Stories" is truly an incredible step up, something I never expected from them, especially after a decidedly catchier album like "Mylo Xyloto," which surely led many to think the band had definitively entered the tunnel of easy listening and stadium anthems. In fact, this is an unusually difficult and experimental album for Coldplay. An album with cold and nocturnal atmospheres, delicate, melancholic tones, sounds incredibly unique and refined, in short, it is not an album made for radio.

The album was born in a particularly difficult time, especially for the leader Chris Martin, dealing with his separation from wife Gwyneth Paltrow. And even if the composition is credited to the entire band, we have confirmation that an artist gives their best during the darkest times... as dark as the sounds of the album. From a strictly instrumental point of view, it is noteworthy how the sound is decidedly more technological than in the past, deliberately more contrived and focused on synthesizers and electronic effects, as well as creating the mild rhythms with almost always electronic percussion. Not to mention the lesser use of guitars. Already starting from "Viva la Vida," the band had tried to enrich its sonic heritage and make its sound more technological, but especially in "Mylo Xyloto," often accompanying it all with a production that was too flat to do justice to the ideas and highlighted only the rhythm and voice, almost wanting to adapt to that sonic flatness making modern pop productions objectively poor and fully deserving of criticism from competent critics but appreciated by the general public (and we know well that at least from the '90s onwards, ordinary people are generally attracted to easy and empty things). Here, however, the care for the sounds seems almost maniacal, the sounds are light yes (in harmony with the album's mood) but never stifled.

If we were to make comparisons that better convey the type of product we are facing... I would say that the delicate and contrived rhythms and the very cold and gloomy electronics reminded me of works by trip-hop groups like Massive Attack and Portishead; the subdued and melancholic atmospheres, the soft keyboard carpets, and Chris Martin's more intimate and delicate voice even reminded me of Talk Talk’s "The Colour of Spring" and "Spirit of Eden".

But before coming to a more in-depth description of the content, I give a piece of advice. Music lovers can be divided into two groups: the true ones, those who pay attention to arrangements, sounds, production, structures, and judge music based on the individual elements... and the pseudo ones who are only interested in what is singable, danceable, cheerful and judge something as good because it possesses these characteristics, often ignoring the objective merits of a slew of artists (and who might even be capable of saying, for example, that Lady Gaga is better than Mozart just because she is more cheerful, ignoring the great compositional depth of Mozart). Coldplay is a band that appeals to both groups; among the former are typically those who have listened to them since their beginnings and are thus attracted essentially by the validity of their musical setup, while among the latter are those gained with "Viva la Vida" and especially "Mylo Xyloto" and who appreciate them only because they are pleasant to listen to, and I get the impression they are the majority. The advice is thus: if you belong to the second category... skip "Ghost Stories", it is a musically too serious album not meant for you simple "supermarket goers" or housewives ironing with the radio on.

But let's get to the tracks. Already the opening gives us the idea of how the album is at the service of melodic refinement; "Always in My Head" strikes with its rich keyboard carpet well supported by guitar passages and electronic effects, a relaxing and nocturnal melody, almost a perfect soundtrack for driving at night. "Magic" is instead a decidedly lighter track focused on rhythm and its soft bass line; perhaps a more immediate track, not surprisingly chosen as a single. "Ink" has a much more sustained rhythm, accompanied by excellent electronic inserts and light acoustic guitars. "True Love", with additional electronic percussion played by Timbaland, once again creates a fresh, nocturnal, and solid atmosphere led by keyboards and supported by light touches of guitar and particular orchestral-eque sounds, with Chris's falsetto voice giving an even colder touch.

And if already with these initial tracks we reach rather high levels of experimentation and emotional sensitivity... now we enter the sublime! "Midnight" was one of the singles chosen to precede the album but it's anything but a potential single, in fact, I am not surprised to have heard it rather little on the radio, it was probably chosen not to deceive the public and make them understand what kind of album it was going to be; here the electronic experimentation really reaches its peak: repeated and more than ever hypnotic loops and an electronically distorted voice, all culminating in a beautiful crescendo of sonic splashes that seem to come from a source of beneficial light. The technological and creative peak of the batch, likely crucial was the use of cutting-edge tools like the ReacTable and the laser harp. Excellent levels of experimentation are also found in the following "Another's Arm", with still remarkable electronic reverberations and cold and subdued melodies also supported by the piano. In "Oceans," echoes of "Parachutes" are again heard: in fact, the acoustic guitar dominates the track, just as often happened in the early Coldplay days, although with the addition of small electronic riffs; the track is practically a crossroads between the old and new Coldplay even if the truly sublime is reached in the tail of the track, characterized by a loop of sounds more than ever psychedelic, tormented, and unsettling.

A slight return to pure mainstream is found with "A Sky Full of Stars," where for the first time Coldplay let themselves be tempted by the sounds of modern commercial house. Two years ago the contagion hit Muse with "Follow Me", now it’s their turn. A good or a bad thing? Well, we know that modern house is a genre of doubtful taste and quality but here the temptation does not seem to reduce to a simple hodgepodge of sounds as usual; disregarding the more danceable parts played by Avicii - which nevertheless do not sound bad at all - in the end, it's a track not exactly banal, quite varied in the guitar and keyboard parts and decently arranged. Perhaps it’s the summer's chosen catchy tune, Disco Radio has already fully grasped it, but dancing to its notes this summer I will definitely find it more enjoyable than several other tracks that will circulate.

The closure is entrusted to "O", once again referring to the old Coldplay. A less nocturnal track, perhaps a bit brighter but still melancholic, guided by Chris's piano but not giving up inserting particular sounds; effects reminiscent of seagull cries make a track that would otherwise be ordinary more interesting; at the end of it, there's a reprise of the first track featuring the voices of Chris's children, Apple and Moses.

In conclusion, I can say that Coldplay have produced their best album; probably the surprise of the year. I hope though that this does not reduce to a mere experimental episode; I hope it's just the beginning of a new phase, roughly along the lines of what their compatriots Radiohead did, who after starting with something quite immediate moved on to something more experimental and refined; a return to something less demanding or to the sounds of the first albums I would suggest perhaps later, after a couple of albums, not right away. Meanwhile, let us toast to their creative and mature peak!