Coldplay ‘Mylo Xyloto’: Fall Preview

Robbie Daw | September 21, 2011 11:02 am

With the arrival of autumn this week comes one of our final Fall Music Preview-featured artists, Coldplay. The band’s upcoming album Mylo Xyloto boasts 14 tracks, colorful cover art and a tongue-twister of a title. So exactly what is in store with Chris Martin & Co.’s new collection of sonic pop-rock jams? Head below for a closer look! ALBUM: Mylo Xyloto (Capitol), the fifth studio LP from UK quartet Coldplay.

RELEASE DATE: October 25 (ie. the same week Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger arrives).

SINGLES RELEASED SO FAR: Buoyant summer jam “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall,” which peaked at #14 on the Hot 100, and recently-released slow number “Paradise.” Funny how the mood of each of those tunes contrasts their respective titles. That’s Coldplay — always keeping us on our toes!

ALBUM PRODUCER: When the band unveiled the Mylo Xyloto cover art last month, they also announced that the LP would feature production work by Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Bjork), Daniel Green and Rik Simpson (Jay-Z, Portishead), with “enoxification” and additional composition by Brian Eno (U2, David Bowie).

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE LP: “I always feel like each record is our last, but at the moment I’m in the stage where I really mean it,” frontman Chris Martin told Billboard in an August cover story. Uh-oh, Coldplay fans! Well, at least there’s an upside: he also said, “We have a rule that one fuck-up is charming, but any more than that is unprofessional.” So that means Mylo Xyloto is completely awesome, right?

In addition to the singles mentioned, the band has so far debuted a handful of tracks off the album since the summer kicked off: “Major Minus” on the “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall” digital EP, “Hurts Like Heaven,” “Us Against The World” and “Charlie Brown” at Germany’s Rock am Ring festival (the latter was also performed in early August on Jimmy Kimmel Live), and  “Up In Flames” at a taping of Austin City Limits.

Sadly, missing from the LP is a recorded cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab.”

TOUR PLANS: The band has already headlined several festivals over the summer, and they next head to Vegas for the iHeartRadio fest on Friday, and Atlanta’s Midtown Music even the following day. After that, they move on to Brazil, South Africa and the UK for a set of gigs in October in support of Mylo Xyloto.

OUR THOUGHTS: These guys are one of the biggest bands in the world, and reception to their two lead singles off their fifth album has been upbeat. They’ll have some tough competition from Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger, but we think the band will likely wind up with a third consecutive #1 album once the dust settles.

Don’t miss our previews of these other fall albums:

Lady Antebellum, Own The Night Katy B, On A Mission Demi Lovato, Unbroken Dev, The Night The Sun Came Up The BanglesSweetheart Of The Sun Cody Simpson, Coast To Coast Tony Bennett, Duets II J. Cole, Cole World: The Sideline Story Scotty McCreery, Clear As Day Frankmusik, Do It In The AM Kelly Clarkson, Stronger Erasure, Tomorrow’s World Patrick Stump, Soul Punk