Coldplay
A Head Full of Dreams (Parlophone/Atlantic)
Welcome to Chris Martin’s mid-life crisis.
Opening the album with title track “A Head Full of Dreams”, the British rock band tries their hand at dance-pop, and it sounds like they’re ushering us through the doors of Studio 54, rather than into their seventh studio album.
Martin has always had a flair for the cheesy, but it was charming back when he was a young, affable British lad wandering around in a rain slicker. It’s been fifteen years since then, and his lyrics have actually gotten worse. “Oh, I.. I’m feelin’ drunk and high, so high, so high” insults the ears in “Hymn For The Weekend” featuring none other than Beyoncé.
The only stand-out track amidst this album of fillers is “Adventure of a Lifetime” (possibly the most ridiculous song title of all time), carrying the kind of catchy disco sound that guilty pleasures are made of.
Mid-album, “Kaleidoscope” plays like a meditative chant, not unlike the one-minute interlude “Color Spectrum”, something one imagines Martin’s therapist might have played while he laid on the couch navigating his “conscious uncoupling” from Gwyneth Paltrow (who contributes backing vocals on a few tracks).
Noel Gallagher infamously touted the band as "a bunch of fuckin' pansies, the lot of them” back in the early days of their career, yet makes an appearance on closer, “Up&Up”. Keep listening though – there’s a hidden track that sounds nothing like the Coldplay we know, and it makes the entire e'X'perience worthwhile.
Rating out of 5: ★★
