Review of the album “Coldplay: Moon Music”.

In interviews surrounding the record, Martin eloquently (if still naively) defends himself when it comes to accepting “uncool.” “If you were allowed to be yourself, would the world be as aggressive as it is?” he asked The New YorkerAmanda Petrusich: “I think that a lot of the violence and conflict (in the world) comes from oppression, suppression and unpublished harm.” That's the only justification Coldplay needs to indulge in childlike wonder. But big feelings don't have to be easy, and childlike wonder doesn't have to mean retreating to the most banal feelings. That's when there Are Feelings: The most common words heard on this album are “la la,” and about half of the songs end with a wordless sing-along. When Martin sings “La-la-lay/That's all, all I can say” on the penultimate track “All My Love,” he's practically daring someone to go. Yes, Chris, we know!

When Coldplay remembers their strengths, they end up with their best material in years. “Jupiter” is a truly beautiful ode to a woman discovering her affection for other women: it's as thoughtful as Coldplay has been in a long time, the rare post-Ghost stories song to successfully return to the intimacy of her early work. (“Don't Give Up” means more when sung in front of one person than in front of 80,000.) “Aeterna” foregoes lyrics in favor of an atmospheric dance shuffle, as bassist Guy Berryman takes precedence over Martin's digitally altered falsetto . Featuring a backbeat lifted from jazz eccentric Louis Cole's “Weird Part of the Night,” it's the kind of stylistic detour that makes you wonder why they're still recruiting the Chainsmokers to perform a song called “GOOD FEELiNGS.” “to write down.

This unpredictable quality control makes Coldplay's defense frustrating or discard – for every questionable choice, there's a 6-minute nu-jazz vamp or a classic prog-pop opus waiting around the corner. Only Coldplay would make a song called “🌈,” but only Coldplay would also make it the most beautiful and exploratory song on the record. What begins as another “Fix You” retread gradually becomes blissful, as if Martin was listening to Cocteau Twins and Sigur Rós while making it Parachutes instead of Jeff Buckley. It's all the more annoying when a song like “We Pray” doesn't fulfill its potential. Some of its choices are bold: a feature by Palestinian-Chilean artist Elyanna and a naming song from the Iranian protest song “Baraye.” Burna Boy and Little Simz do their best with soulful guest appearances. But “We Pray” is once again filled with “la la”s and simple sentiments, so crowded that there are two alternative versions with different verses. The production is completely flat: there are Imagine Dragons songs with harder 808s.

At their best, Coldplay are capable of things no other act of their size can do. There's just enough charm Moon music to show why they've lasted this long, why no wayward hip-hop routine or clunky lyric can stop their reign. Another bonus track, “The Karate Kid,” is as good a plaintive ballad as any they wrote. The lyrics are still nonsense on paper and it's hard to tell whether the song's “Daniel” is an original character or the actual protagonist The Karate Kid. But the details don't matter: the song is a rare moment in which Martin sits with the pain of a loved one rather than trying to ease it, and so the inevitable lines about making dreams come true feel earned. Or in the parlance of the later Coldplay: They still remember that there is 🌧️ before 🌈.