By: James Southworth
Rating: 3/5 Stars
I've never gotten the chance to talk about Coldplay on my site; it's about time that I had the opportunity to do so. While they're not one of my top bands, I still have an immense liking for the band as a whole. Their first four albums are superb efforts, especially "X & Y" and "Viva La Vida". I am not as huge a fan of the band's albums from "Mylo Xyloto" onward, with the significant exception of "Ghost Stories", which I think is rather underrated. Sure, it's very electronic and low-key, but the lyricism on it is quite haunting. Even if I found "A Head Full of Dreams" to be underwhelming, I was still excited to see what Coldplay could bring to the table with their new double album "Everyday Life". The promotion around this release was interesting to me, as it seemed to be conceptual in structure, and a lot of buzz was being made about this being the band's most experimental work to date. My reactions to this album ended up being divided, with some songs here being among Coldplay's best work to date, while other choices made here are real head scratchers or very underwhelming.
This album is divided into two parts or disks: part 1 is entitled "Sunrise" and part 2 is entitled "Sunset". I definitely think the "Sunrise" part of the album is far more interesting half. Most of the musical choices made here work to the band's benefit, starting with the intro track "Sunrise". I wasn't quite expecting an orchestra to begin off the album, but that is what we end up getting here. It really ended up working for me, as it's beautiful and chilling at the same time. I think it begins this album off on an interesting note, leaving you intrigued to see what the rest of the album has to offer. It's admittedly jarring to go directly from this to the decidedly more electronic cut "Church". That doesn't mean I dislike the song though, far from it. I really appreciate how the electronics function in this song, playing a more subtle role and letting Chris Martin's vocals take center stage. I think this song doubles as both a relationship song and maybe even a religious song in some ways. I appreciate the cut keeps things vague enough to where you could see it both ways. Neither interpretation makes the song feel cheesy; instead the sentiments here are sincere and even touching in some ways. I think this song was an overall solid way to begin the album. Once again, the way this song transitions into "Trouble In Town" is a little weird to me. But once again, I like this cut. This track is entirely different in subject matter than the song before it, as it talks about how tense race relations are, resulting in racial minorities being treated in unfair and inhumane ways. This is the first song where we see light of one of the main ideas/theses of the album. I think this track nails the album's central theme- that everyone's "everyday life" should be one where they're treated with love and compassion- better than some of the other cuts on the album. I think that's probably because the song is bold in its musicality, feeling a little more intense than your typical Coldplay song. The inclusion of a real life audio recording where a minority was profiled by a cop plays a huge role in making the song work. The way the music accompanies the recording ignites some powerful emotion. I wish this was a more frequent occurrence on this album.
The album then transitions into "BrokEn". This is one of the album's many shorter cuts (around two and a half minutes or less), and it's one of the only ones that I feel works well. The classic gospel feel of the song appeals to my musical tastes, so I'm definitely biased towards liking this one more than some other people might be. There's a sense of raw energy here as Chris Martin's vocals and the backing vocals combine together. We then get the somber and emotionally heart wrenching cut "Daddy", which sounds like it would be right at home on "Ghost Stories". The song is simple and childlike in its lyrics, but I think that is clearly purposeful. The song is personal to Chris Martin, as he has discussed in an interview that he can feel like a far away father figure to his son when he is out touring. The emotions put on display here are poignant, and Martin's voice is truly just beautiful to listen to. This is definitely one of my top favorites on the album. My absolute favorite on the album comes in the unabashedly energetic single "Arabesque". This song feels like Coldplay at their most risky and experimental. If anything, I wish I'd heard more songs that went as crazy as this one in terms of trying new things. The usage of big band instrumentation here is a welcome and exciting part of the song, as well as lyrics that show how desperate Martin is for the us to find unity and love in a tense world: "I could be you, you could be me/Two raindrops in the same sea/You could be me, I could be you/Two angles of the same view". It also helps that there are different languages spoken in the cut, showing the band is dedicated to unity in an international sense. The song ends with an excellent saxophone solo that only make the song that much better. Like I mentioned earlier, the second half of the album, "Sunset" is a little weaker. That's not to say nothing works on this half. "Champion of the World" is an ethereal and inspiring track without ever forcing inspiration on the listener. And then there's the title track, which is classic Coldplay in every sense of the word. If you've been missing the Coldplay from their first four albums, you'll get it in abundance here. It's a wonderful way to end the album.
Now I have to get to some of my critiques of this album. Unfortunately, the issues the album has keep it from being as good as it could be. One issue that I've already implied in my previous paragraphs is that musically, this album is messy and fragmented. Now in some ways I sort of see what the band was going for: the real world is also a messy and fragmented place, so choosing one particular style to nail down "life" as a whole was always going to be a challenge. But still, it is very jarring the way the band attempts to transitions between vastly different genres. They try to bring a sense of cohesion with these cuts that feel more like interludes. Sadly, either the interludes are boring or they just don't make sense in context of the album. "When I Need a Friend" sounds like something you'd hear in a church cathedral, and while it's pretty, I'm just not sure how it entirely connects to the rest of the album. The same goes for "WOTW/POTP" and "Children of Adam". I think these interludes should've either been cut or even expanded upon. This album is an hour long, but I feel like it could've benefited from being a little longer. Some of the concepts here, especially the more political ones, are often spoken about in only the vaguest of terms. In some cases, they're barely commented on at all. "Trouble in Town" was a great way to establish the idea of racial inequality, but for the rest of the album the only way the band speaks of this idea again is in vague platitudes. I really wish the band had gone to uncomfortable places more often like in the aforementioned song, but they really don't. "Guns" had potential in talking about gun control, but it takes a rather easy going centrist route with Chris Martin asking himself if he's just crazy too. That seems like a quick way to dodge an important topic to me. While I tend to like songs that are upbeat musically but lyrically dark, "Orphans" completely misses the mark. Martin goes into the perspective of a Syrian refugee. I just don't think an upbeat pop song with a lot of "woo woo"'s was the best way to talk about such a dire circumstance. Also, using "boom-baboom" as a sound effect for bombs going off in Damascus felt insultingly childish and reductive of a real world tragedy. The children's choir in the chorus completely overpowers Chris's vocals. All of these elements make "Orphans" easily the worst cut on the album, as it did everything it could wrong. "Cry Cry Cry" also feels woefully misguided, especially with the pitching up of Jacob Collier's guest vocals. This song is so repetitive and dull, and definitely bogs down the second half of the album, along with the forgettable cuts "Old Friends" and "Eko".
So, what do I feel overall about Coldplay's "Everyday Life"? Well, I do think that the album is a little bit disappointing, but is still overall in line with the quality that we've gotten from the band "Mylo Xyloto" onward. I think the reason this one is more disappointing to me is that there is evidence here of Coldplay really bringing back that exciting spirit they had on their earlier records (songs like "Arabesque" and the title track could be among some of my favorite of the band's songs to date). This album is still fine overall; I might even call it pretty good. But "pretty good" hasn't always been a trait of Coldplay. "Everyday Life" is worth maybe a listen or two, and I think the diehard fans will really enjoy this release. I will personally be setting aside my favorite cuts from this album, and don't see myself returning to this album a lot as a whole.
Favorite Songs: "Arabesque", "Everyday Life", "Trouble In Town", "Daddy"
Least Favorite Songs: "Orphans", "Cry Cry Cry", "Guns"
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