Coldplay - "Moon Music"

Pop Rock is deceased

The most concise description I can come up with for this album, to build on that tagline, is “Pop Rock goes Post-Rock”.

And no, that sort of gentle, piano-driven atmospheric style isn’t new for Coldplay, but they take it a step further on Moon Music, and it’s evident right from the start of the album with the titular intro track. Coldplay is channeling Radiohead and Sigur Ros throughout the album, and fusing those vibes with their own typical pop rock sound.

If you listened to their last outing, 2021’s Music of the Spheres, this album isn’t all that different, sonically. It’s half one long vibe, half aughts-era soft rock infused with things like hope and awe and majesty.

Except for “We Pray”, which is simultaneously the best and iffiest track on the album. It is the song with the most writers in its credits on the album, and part of this seems to be because each featured artist was given some creative control. These include:

• Little Simz (Simbiatu Ajikawo)

• Burna Boy (Damini Ogulu)

• Elyanna (Elian Marjieh)

• TINI (Martina Stoessel)

But there are also a couple of other contributors who aren’t listed in the features, including Jay-Z, violinist Davide Rossi, and Swedish songwriter ILYA (Ilya Salmanzadeh).

It’s a good song which speaks to the darknesses and challenges of today’s world, and even calls out an Iranian protest anthem, “Baraye”. But why did it come out sounding like it was written by Imagine Dragons? It’s a good Imagine Dragons song, but still.

It’s really saved by Little Simz’s verse, though. Ajikawo, an English/Nigerian rapper, takes the second verse and absolutely slays with it.

The song doesn’t really fit the tone of the rest of the album, but that verse is one of the album’s best moments. I’m going to be looking for her next album.

The core of the album’s structure is defined by tracks 1, 6, and 10 (these are “Moon Music”, “Alien Hits/Alien Radio”, and “One World”, respectively; there are just ten total tracks, so this encompasses both the opener and closer for the album). The two latter tracks are each over six minutes.

These three songs are the ones that really lean into that Post-Rock feel and shed the poppier elements almost entirely. “Alien Hits/Alien Radio” (which is, for some reason, titled with just the rainbow emoji)¹ is capstoned with a clip of Maya Angelou talking about, and singing a snippet of, an old hymn. Of the two six-minute tracks, this is the better one by quite a bit.

“Aeterna” is another track which breaks the tone a bit, but it’s because it leans Electropop, rather than because it’s a polar opposite which sounds like another band wrote it. It’s only a mild outlier.

Overall, the album seems to state that, ‘yes, things are kinda shit now, but it’ll get better’.² It’s an overwhelmingly (and, frankly, sickeningly) positive album. In its defense, it dropped a month before the election. It espouses love and positivity, and does so with solidly bright-ass vibes; so if you need a light in the dark, you should play this on repeat.

Otherwise, it comes off a bit naive and wistful. But it is enjoyable for what it is.

Rating: Green

1. I really expected “Rainbow” to be the actual title after seeing the emoji.

2. “Jupiter” is a bit half-and-half as it tries to shove an overwhelming amount of love at the LGBT community in general, and Trans folks in particular.