Let’s face it — Coldplay is not as hot as it once was.
Certainly not like when “Yellow,” “Clocks” and “Viva La Viva” — the band’s Grammy-winning single that topped the charts in 2008 — became some of the defining alt-rock hits of the aughts.
But then again, the same can be said for any middle-aged act that ruled the 2000s. With the exception of Beyoncé, of course.
So, it was kinda sad to hear that Chris Martin and crew — who released their 10th studio album, “Moon Music,” on Friday — are only going to make two more LPs after this.
That’s right — the biggest band of the 21st century will be retiring from recording.
“We are only going to do 12 proper albums, and that’s real,” Martin, 47, told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe earlier this week. “It’s really important that we have that limit.
“Having that limit means that the quality control is so high right now,” he continued, “and for a song to make it, it’s almost impossible, which is great. And so where we could be kind of coasting, we’re trying to improve.”
“Moon Music,” though, will hardly be seen as an improvement over classic Coldplay albums such as 2000’s “Parachutes,” 2002’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head” and 2008’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.”
It’s a tale of two — or possibly even three — Coldplays.
There’s the Coldplay that is still committed to the album format — as much as that has gone the way of the dinosaur in the streaming era — and the artful atmospherics that marked their earlier work.
You can hear that Coldplay on the title track that opens the album with a sweeping orchestral grandeur that gives way to moody piano balladry. It feels like it’s meant to tell you that you are going on some type of journey — maybe to the moon? — with prog-rock goals that nod to Pink Floyd: “Maybe I’m just crazy/I should just be a brick in the wall,” sings Martin at his most melancholy.
But on the very next track — the album’s feel-good first single “feelslikeimfallinginlove” — there’s the other Coldplay, the band that has become more pop than rock over the years. The band that paired up with Avicii and with the Chainsmokers for the EDM moves of 2014’s “A Sky Full of Stars” and 2017’s “Something Just Like This,” respectively, and then with BTS for the K-pop bop “My Universe” in 2021.
The latter was produced by Max Martin — the hitmaker for everyone from Britney Spears and Pink to Taylor Swift and The Weeknd — and it went on to become Coldplay’s second No. 1 single at a time when the group was being counted out from ever topping the charts again. So it’s no surprise that he is back as producer for “Moon Music.”
And there is no denying the pop charm that the producer brings to tracks like “feelslikeimfallinginlove,” which Chris Martin, even at 47, invests with all of his earnestness. “You’re throwing me a lifeline,” he croons, as if pining for another hit as much as for a new love.
Truth is, “feelslikeimfallinginlove” deserves to be more of a hit than it has been. But it will probably turn off fans of the old Coldplay as much as it keeps them relevant — for better or worse — with a new generation.
Same goes for “Good Feelings” — featuring Nigerian singer Ayra Starr — which has a soul-disco strut and moves like Maroon 5. Yes, Maroon 5.
But just as Coldplay is giving into pop shamelessness, “Moon Music” gets weird again on the six-minute “Rainbow,” another largely instrumental, more experimental excursion that indulges their spacey side — complete with a spoken-word sample of Maya Angelou. Yes, Maya Angelou.
Ultimately, though, “Moon Music” moments like these feel more like extended intros/interludes — or, in the case of closer “One World,” an outro. It’s hard to tell if that’s where their heart is at.
Sometimes, there’s a mix of old- and new-school Coldplay on tracks such as “Jupiter,” which marries the guitar strumming of “Yellow” with a children’s choir. And “Aeterna” takes the EDM back to the alt-rock grooves of 2005’s “X&Y.”
And then there can be something entirely different: “We Pray” — featuring British rapper Little Simz, Afrobeats phenom Burna Boy, Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna and Argentinian star Tini — is ambitious in its attempt to deliver world music with a message. No surprise since Martin has been curator of the Global Citizen Festival since 2015.
Say what you will about the band, sometimes Coldplay still makes the kind of magic only Coldplay can make. That happens on “All My Love” — a Beatles-esque piano ballad co-written by Moses Martin, Chris’ 18-year-old son with ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow.
“Whether it rains or pours, I’m all yours,” sings Martin, letting the feels flow.
Coldplay may not get all the love anymore that it used to, but Martin and co. can still bring the heart — if not the heat.
