SINGLE: Coldplay - Violet Hill

Middle of the Road? Surprisingly, Middle of someplace Very Different.

The latest single from Coldplay is perhaps the biggest release this year; well, at least until the new album comes out, that is. The long-winded ‘Viva a Vida or Death and All His Friends’ is out 12^th June, and if this single (and the album artwork) is anything to go by, it will be a somewhat different listen to their previous outings. Now I’m all for bands to do their own thing, try out new and exciting sounds for them – it’s what makes a group’s music truly great – but for god’s sake, do it at least by the second album and not the freaking fourth. That way you won’t lose about fifty percent of your fanbase. Hopefully, due to Coldplay’s stadium sized popularity and promise of many radio plays, they will gain new listeners, and if the album is actually good… well, I don’t see any real problem arising on that front. People will still pack out Twickenham for them. Even I would go and see them for sure: me and the rest of the crowd singing our hearts out to Fix You, Trouble, Politik and many others would be a tremendous experience. We'll have to see if the first release from 'Viva la Vida' is worthy enough to join the ranks of the others.

Violet Hill was released for a week as a free download, a trend picking up quite rapidly through the music industry and a great way for people to hear the song (‘what’s that, a free tune? Gimme!’). It would also help if the song was all that great to be perfectly honest, but it isn’t. I’ll start with Chris Martin’s voice: initially, it doesn’t sound like it fits in, perhaps a little too much confidence in the vocal department. Subsequently, a placid few bars of not much at all drift along in faux suspense: out of nowhere, a wicked bluesy passing section kicks in which leads excitedly into the bulk of the verse. Now everything has settled in, we’re getting somewhere.

I gladly present to you the chorus – wonderful falsetto, syllable changes on the offbeat which sound great, plus a post-section of air-punching wallops on the drumkit. My only niggle is that it just isn’t long enough. A dirty guitar solo, a first for Coldplay, takes us around the midrift of the song – it’s just a shame it’s crap. Tonally - acceptable, melodically: get a fucking imagination. After another whip-round of the chorus, it’s all over, and what an anticlimax that was. Despite this, there are definitely some great ideas chucked in there, that I will admit; and while it indeed sounds different for them, it still retains Coldplay’s sound. That is a very good mix, readers. If you don’t have your own sound nailed, how are you going to succeed in musical diversity without losing your identity? I simply hope this will save them in the long run. So from me, a thumbs up to them for that: they accomplish what they wanted (at least on this one song). But hey, it’s no The Scientist.

Overall – 6 / 10

Get it? – Yes, but only if it’s still free. Heheh.