Music Times writers share an office area of roughly 45 sq. ft, which makes having face-to-face conversations totally impossible. Junk Mail is these millennials attempt to discuss and review the week's hottest album releases... without needing to look at each other.
This week: Ryan Book, Caitlin Carter, Joey DeGroot, and Carolyn Menyes e-mail back and forth about Coldplay's Ghost Stories.
Ryan Book: Coldplay has always been compared to U2, and unfortunate comparison from a competitive standpoint, plus one that I've never understood from a musical perspective. The group finally attempted to live up to that standard with its last two albums with big-music tracks such as "Paradise" (off Mylo Xyloto) and "A Sky Full of Stars" (off the new Ghost Stories). And, I argue, these tracks have been the highlights of both albums.
The problem, more so on Stories than its predecessor, is that the rest of the album was not just quiet, but withdrawn. Coldplay has always been quiet, and yet classics such as "Clocks" were enveloping. "Magic," the first single of the most recent album, is not. Critics will make a beeline for the house music approach to "A Sky Full of Stars," but at least it's big and welcoming.
Caitlin Carter: The album is definitely withdrawn, and I'm sure many critics will credit his "conscious uncoupling" with Gwyneth Paltrow as the reason. Lyrically, the album seems to allude to the failed relationship, but I would expect that anguish to still ring through instead of feeling timid.
Carolyn Menyes: The goopy conscious uncoupling of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow isn't just alluded to on Ghost Stories, it's all over it. If it's not straightforward in songs like "True Love" ("And I wish you could have let me know / What's really going on below / I've lost you now / You let me go"), it's still subtly laying there in "Magic," for instance. I bet you could even argue that the "Ghost" in the album's title is the ghost of a failed marriage -- that would not be a surprise to me.
I don't get what you mean that this album is withdrawn, Ryan (and Caitlin), can you explain that further? If you're talking emotionally, I think Martin actually poured a lot of his soul into this record.
CC: For me, the vocals and the sound seem withdrawn, not the emotion. The sound isn't as big as some of their previous work. Ryan might have a different explanation though.
Joseph DeGroot: I definitely agree about the music being withdrawn. With all of Coldplay's previous albums and singles, you can easily picture them being played to a huge, rapturous crowd at Bonnaroo, but none of these songs have the same massive sound (except "A Sky Full of Stars," of course). Coldplay's often been compared to Radiohead, and though they've always had similarities to Radiohead's majestic '90s work, I think Ghost Stories shows that they've finally progressed to the more subdued, post-millenial Radiohead. I don't think they've managed this transition particularly well, but it's definitely there.
CM: So, we're all just forgetting about Parachutes? I think this album is a really comfortable return to form for Coldplay. Maybe I like the band's sleepy debut album more than most (and I do eschew away from its more bombastic albums like Mylo Xyloto and Viva La Vita) but I don't know... "Oceans" actually is my favorite song on this album by a long shot, just because it is so drippy and subdued. It's all a matter of what you're looking for, I suppose.
I would hate for any band to be compared to U2, let alone late U2 (like I'm assuming Coldplay gets), and this album definitely pulls away from that.
RB: Wow, Joseph comparing Coldplay to Radiohead?
I disagree with the likelihood of Mr. Martin's public split being the predominant theme of Ghost Stories, but the band's perspective is definitely one of a narrow hallway. Again, the lyrical style hasn't changed, but it combines with the instrumental backing to suggest that the band is focused on a target. Sure, Martin may have dumped some emotion into his words, but it doesn't sound like he necessarily wants to share them with us.
Radiohead is more a feeling of "alienation"...Ghost Stories is one of detachment...to the outside world that is. Parachutes is still warm. Ghost Stories is cold. Kind of like the narrator suggested by the title.
CM: #SHADE
CC: Could this be our most polarizing Junk Mail yet? haha. Anyway, for me, it's just not as memorable as their older material (which I am mostly a fan of, by the way). It's notterrible or anything, but just not one I see myself going back to, save a few tracks. I don't need arena rock, but it would benefit from some vibrancy. That said, the "coldness" of the album makes sense within the context of Martin's life right now. Maybe this album doesn't need to be great because he's probably not feeling so great either.
CM: I guess you could say this album is a... cold play.
JD: I agree with Caitlin. Though I'm not really a fan, I've never hated Coldplay as much as everyone else seems to. Chris Martin knows how to write a hook, and the band has a bunch of well-written and unique singles (maybe not lyrically, but musically), but Ghost Stories has maybe one hook over its entire 42 minutes. I love cold, electronic-tinged music (see: Radiohead, Kraftwerk) but this just isn't Coldplay's thing. By the time I got to "A Sky Full of Stars," I was cringing at how aggressively unoriginal it was. I could easily hear it soundtracking a promo commercial for "a very special episode" of Parenthood or some network drama.
FINAL THOUGHTS
CM: I just can't win with defending this album today! Which is fine. Does Ghost Stories lack a few hooks? Yeah. Is it maybe a little icy? Perhaps. But, for me, this album works as a cohesive piece -- I get the relationship falling apart, I get the numbness that comes from that and the emotions that would logically follow. We also get some really pretty individual pieces of music, with "Oceans" and "True Love" once again being my personal favorites. Revisit those songs, and don't tell me you can't feel Martin drowning in pain and throwing it to some beautifully stripped down beats. Maybe I like small music, but this album works for me. It's my favorite thing Coldplay has done since A Rush Of Blood To The Head, to be quite honest.
CC: This album doesn't live up to the big sound of Coldplay's history. It's not a "bad" album, per se, but it lacks that glimmer that Coldplay is known for. There is emotion in the lyrics, but that doesn't come through as much for me in the vocals and sound. It feels muted. Ultimately, this change makes sense. Martin is probably not feeling on top of the world right now. Ghost Stories will fit well in the timeline of Martin's (and Coldplay's) history as a point in time that wasn't easy or glamorous. I look forward to hearing that spark (Parachutes pun intended) again on their next effort.
JD: If you had told me that Coldplay's new album was bringing the band to a more intimate and experimental place, I would have expected it to be my favorite Coldplay album, but it's by far the least impressed I've ever been by this band. It doesn't even feel like a Coldplay album, really, but rather a Chris Martin solo album. Not one of these songs is going to be permanently etched into pop history like "Viva La Vida" or "Clocks."
RB: Nothing heals the pain of breaking up with someone you were never actually married to like the money that comes with releasing a blockbuster album (just kidding). Coldplay has as much right as any to be in a bad mood, but if they want to make a record about it, the band should probably open its arms a little more and let us in to give a hug. Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to The Head featured both joy and a lack thereof, and Coldplay/Chris Martin invited us along for both rides. Whatever mood Coldplay happens to be in next time, let's hope we're invited.
