Coldplay – Everyday Life

By Ryan G

There’s so much I could say about how Coldplay has impacted and shaped my music listening career. I’ll leave it at this – there is one album I liked at age 14 that I still listen to on a regular basis that I don’t feel I’ve outgrown – that is Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head.

I haven’t been as quick to criticize the band’s penchant for feel good lite-arena rock in the past few years as many. That said, no album has impacted me front to back like Everyday Life since Viva La Vida. “Church” recalls “Speed of Sound” from X&Y a bit with groove that is less “flying over the ocean waves” and more “driving down the open road at sunrise,” a fitting mood since the song immediately follows the intro track on the “Sunrise” half of the record.

Overall the record is the quietest material Coldplay has released in some time. It doesn’t have the experimental vibe that Ghost Stories has, but it certainly comes inspired by the times we live in – the good and the bad. This is more or less Chris Martin’s assessment of the world – that everything is good and terrible at the same time.

“Trouble In My Town” and “Daddy” are emotionally riveting for different reasons, but don’t have that heart-on-your-sleave sad music melody that often makes me sad. I was actually kind of dreading that feeling, but in both of these songs Coldplay makes use of peaceful, and at times bordering on upbeat sounds, preferring to let the lyrics and words speak for themselves – this makes them more memorable for me. The message is less swallowed up in the feelings I get from the music because of how the two are somewhat distinct from one another.

I enjoy the experimental elements in this album (“Arabesque” and “Eko”) and also the obvious singles (“Church,” “Orphans,” and “Champion of the World”). I like how the singles just sort are what they are and don’t feel the need to creep toward being overindulgent. “Viva la Vida” and “Up&Up,” as much as I like those songs, have such lofty peaks that I don’t revisit them as much. These songs are easy listens and catchy. Some have criticized the “woo woo’s” in “Orphans” but at this point isn’t that sort of Coldplay’s modus operandi for radio singles? They have to drop something in there so you know it’s them.

My only real complaint with the album is the inclusion of the song “Guns.” I agree with the overall sentiments of the song, but I find the overall tune kind of annoying and “Everyone’s gone fucking crazy” isn’t exactly the line I would have chosen. Perhaps that’s the point, though.

Everyday Life is overall a very solid album that feels like a natural pivot from the sky-high A Head Full of Dreams rainbow era they were indulging. An acknowledgement of the ugly and the beauty and the hope in the in between.

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