Ghost Stories
The band’s gift for soaring melodies is evident throughout *Ghost Stories*—particularly on the magnetic first single, “Magic.” Chris Martin’s heart-rending falsetto floats along in a haze of synth-washed ambience (as on the entrancing *Kid A*–influenced “Midnight”) or sparely accompanied by acoustic instruments (“Oceans,” “O”). *Ghost Stories* demonstrates the expressive power of understatement.
Ghost Stories is unmistakably Coldplay's "breakup album," a subdued work that finds Chris Martin and his band crisply moping through mid-tempo soundscapes and fuzzy electronic touches that have the visceral impact of a down comforter tumbling down a flight of stairs.
It’s unlikely that many people were clamoring for a demure Coldplay record, considering the band already had a partially deserved reputation for delivering various shades of vanilla. But Ghost Stories, Coldplay’s sixth, strips away the pomp and bombast of 2011’s Mylo Xyloto almost completely. Even the color scheme of…
Downtempo pop from the globe-dominating quartet to soothe troubled souls
If you're looking for another review to lambaste Coldplay as the most generic and overall lamest band around right now, abandon all hope ye who enter here.
Around the time Coldplay's sixth album, Ghost Stories, was scheduled for release, lead singer Chris Martin announced he was divorcing his wife, the actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
When we got our first taste of Ghost Stories with "Midnight," it seemed as though the band was shedding its tried-and-true brand of anthemic alt rock and taking a note from the book of Bon Iver, with an eerie build-up that never quite resolves and vocoder that perfectly fits Chris Martin's soft coos.
Album review: Coldplay - 'Ghost Stories'. A depressingly lifeless record from musicians who have proven themselves so much better...
<p>Chris Martin may be hurting, but Coldplay's sixth studio album defaults to their plush trademark tones of yearning and succour, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong></p>
Ghost Stories isn’t the return to basics the band hinted at during interviews, nor does it need to be.
Their frontman's marriage breakup sees Coldplay consciously uncoupling the band's music from the swaggering melodies of old – but the lyrics are still humdrum, writes <strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>
Chris Martin's first album since his split from Gwyneth Paltrow is big on love and loss, but lacks lyrical intimacy, says Helen Brown
They say the devil has all the best tunes, but melancholia is another source of musical inspiration. Coldplay’s new album is the product of a period of emotional turmoil in lead vocalist Chris Martin’s life – the much–publicized ‘uncoupling’ from his wife the actress Gwynneth Paltrow.The album was made before the announcement of their separation but it expresses a painful inner journey in anticipation of break-up, the realization of loss, and the mortality of relationships, all of which are the stuff of melancholy moods.