They had their spell of trying to be U2, but these days Coldplay might be the rock equivalent of Madonna, entering middle age while keeping up with the kids by constantly absorbing newer styles into their familiar melodic world. In the past that’s meant collaborations with Beyoncé and Rihanna, The Chainsmokers and Avicii.
On their eighth album it’s more about changing the way they present their music. Everyday Life feels less like a unified collection and more like a challenge to see how many different streaming playlists they can appear on — from gospel to country and even those classical piano selections designed to aid exam revision.
There’s a lot to it, with 16 songs divided into “Sunrise” and “Sunset” halves. The overarching theme is heavy — the Middle East’s relationship with the West — with the single Orphans a lament for Syrian life before the civil war and one song title in Persian. Yet they can’t help but offer uplift, as with the stately title track’s urging: “Got to keep dancing when the lights go out”, or the pure bliss of Champion of the World. As with 2014’s downbeat Ghost Stories, there will be no world tour, which suggests this is a stopgap, a place to try a few new things before a fuller reinvention.
They’ve earned the right to experiment, and in the smooth doo-wop of Cry Cry Cry, a few fans may find they have an unlikely new favourite Coldplay song.
