"Midnight", New Coldplay Track Shakes Things Up

     I never thought that I would find myself compelled to write about Coldplay on my blog. While their music was certainly my first love, they the first concert that I went to, and they will forever hold a special, sentimental place in my heart, I thought that Mylo Xyloto their 2011 release, would be be the extent of their dabbling in experimental instrumentation and song structures. How wrong it seems I'm turning out to be.
     I write this as "Midnight" plays in the background for the fourth time in a row. I still cannot get a good grip on the song. Early comments have likened it to Bon Iver, which is certainly evident in Chris Martin's airy vocals, which, at times, borders on indiscernible. But the instrumentation doesn't even begin to hint at use of guitars, besides a non intrusive baseline that really just serves to highlight Chris' voice. At around the 2:50 mark, it feels as if the song is about to burst into a familiar Coldplay anthem, but it doesn't and for that I respect it a whole lot more. It takes some balls to be Coldplay, and to release a song this drastically different from say the likes of "Viva la Vida". A song that sits on the ears more like Four Tet than Radiohead. It takes some getting used to, but that is certainly a good sign for a Coldplay track.
     This is the most excited I've felt about Coldplay in a long time, and it will certainly be exciting to see what their next album will entail.