Upon seeing the cover art for Coldplay’s newest single “Hypnotised,” I feared that they had not yet put their 2015 album, A Head Full of Dreams, to rest. The single was released today without any previous announcement, which shocked me. Regardless, I feared that once more, Coldplay would try to blend in with what’s mainstream instead of retaining their signature mellow style. Their recent release of the collaboration single with The Chainsmokers, “Something Just Like This,” affirmed my doubts even if it was a good, catchy song. I love Coldplay, but I must say that A Head Full of Dreams appeared to have been written by a procrastinating college student at 3AM, and that’s not even getting into the terrible CGI chimpanzee versions of Coldplay in the music video for “Adventure of a Lifetime.” I nearly lost hope in Coldplay, but not quite. I continue to hope for another beautiful album like Ghost Stories, Parachutes or X&Y. Miraculously, the new single, “Hyponotised,” exponentiated my small hopes.
“Hypnotised” brought back memories of the 2014 album Ghost Stories, by far my favorite Coldplay album. Just as the tracks from Ghost Stories, “Hypnotised” featured a repeating arpeggiating piano melody in the background, along with the haunting, barely-there wailing guitar sounds, laid back percussion and harmonious strings. Chris Martin’s unique voice and high notes add the nostalgic, mellow splash every Coldplay song needs and reaffirm the promise that the upcoming EP, Kaleidoscope, (to be released on June 2nd) holds. Earlier, Martin announced on Twitter that the EP will feature five songs, including “Something Just Like This” and “Hypnotised.” Thankfully, Coldplay seems to be heading back to their beautiful, emotional Ghost Stories era, which appeared to have been interrupted by the annoyingly experimental album A Head Full of Dreams. Kaleidoscope appears to be heading in an even more positive direction than Ghost Stories. Chris Martin was going through a confusing time in 2014, as he and his wife Gwyneth Paltrow announced their separation. This awkward turn of events brought Martin an emotional awakening of sorts, and with it, Ghost Stories. However, “Hypnotised” is not hinting at anything either sad or haunting. Instead, the single hints at the new beginnings and personal growth that follow emotional distress, and is still beautiful. Martin’s high long notes combined with the harmonious accompaniment pack a hypnotizing load of emotion sure to mesmerize both new and old listeners alike.
The self-loving message found in the lyrics warms the heart, and as Martin sings “Threading the needle/fixing my flame/now I’m moved to exclaim oh again and again,” I knew I wanted to listen to the whole EP as soon as it was released if this was the amount of emotion being delivered. I’ll admit that for the rest of the day after I listened to the single, I felt an extreme sense of nostalgia and turned into glorious Coldplay fan trash and listened to their music all day. I missed the old Coldplay, especially pre-Mylo Xyloto. Coldplay is bringing elements from their old music back and keeping the emotion they always had, something they were unable to accomplish after Mylo Xyloto, save for Ghost Stories. “Hypnotised” left me wanting more. Long time listeners, like me, are aching to get Coldplay back, and now it looks like soon we will all get to be sad again just as we were as we listened to “The Scientist” or “Another’s Arms” for the first time. And we will all love it.
Viri Garcia is a freshman in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at [email protected]