(Parlophone/EMI)

One of Britain’s biggest bands keeps its ranking with this effort

With a cover that is a graffiti’ed 19th century painting of the French revolution and a title that’s seemingly as contradictory as it is deep (from another artist, Frida Kahlo), Coldplay’s fourth album arrives like it’s going to be a weighty affair. And in some ways it is. Though they haven’t broken ranks with their now-familiar post-Radiohead/U2 sound (and actually reinforce it by getting U2’s resident egghead Brian Eno to add “sonic landscapes”), this at first seems a moody, sometimes even murky set that shies away from earlier sombre-sweet successes like Yellow and Speed Of Sound. That’s best marked by a sense of risk-taking that has them changing course in the middle of tracks like Yes, where Chris Martin also tries out a lower register. Despite that and the apparent religious undertone to some of the 11 cuts, there’s still room for a surprisingly uplifting shimmer in tracks like Lost!, Cemeteries Of London and 42 (a reference to the Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy?). The fairweather fan may have some doubts, but Coldplay’s willingness to tamper with their own formula makes this a more interesting journey than you may think.

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BILL HOLDSWORTH

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