Despite what may be popular belief, no, I did not drop off the face of the Earth; I have simply been incredibly negligent of my blog for about the past 3 months :( Shame on me.
Now...
I am currently typing this latest post from my new desk at my Internship with the Promotions department at Warner Bros. Records!!!
So. Freaking. Unreal. Even as I sit here, I can't believe I'm sitting here. Ya know?
Finally have my foot in the door (a rather BIG door, if I do say so myself) within the Music Industry, and I could not be happier or more grateful. So thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far, I am beyond excited to see where this incredible opportunity takes me this summer!
Let's talk about some actual music, shall we?
Coldplay has a new album out, entitled Ghost Stories, and I have been absolutely dying to write about this for a while now because
a) helloooo Coldplay is my absolute favorite band of all time
b) fittingly enough, the album is produced by Parlophone, a branch label that falls under my new employer!
With the album having been available to the public for a month now (and me having rushed to Target to get the special edition copy with three exclusive songs the day it came out), I have had plenty of time to listen to the album all the way through at least 7 times at this point. And let me just say... thank god for that, because otherwise I would have judged the entire album's quality solely off of "Midnight," the first single released a while back.
Lezbihonest.... We all sort of panicked when we heard "Midnight" for the first time. I mean, auto-tune?! Really?!?! Yikes. Yet this track has an almost Bon Iver-like quality to it, thus giving "Midnight" an eerie yet entrancing vibe. You may have been confused by what you heard the first couple of times through, but you weren't able to stop listening either.
And then came the release of the album's second single, "Magic." My faith in Coldplay for a kickass album was restored upon hearing that there was a second single out; maybe "Midnight" was just the ugly duckling track of the album, I thought. However, as with "Midnight," I was again disappointed by the first impression of this second release. I felt as though Coldplay had betrayed me by creating such a typical-pop-song-sounding track; how could they stoop that low? It seemed like such a trite song, especially by Coldplay's standards.
Yet it was such a catchy song... Somehow I couldn't stop listening to it. I still stand by my original impression of "Magic" being a lot lower on the Wow Factor scale than nearly all of Coldplay's previous tracks, but I respect them too much as an artist to not give their attempt at a new sound a chance.
So then the moment came to finally listen to the entire album, all the way through, with no bias or expectation. And once again, Coldplay absolutely delivered.
Each of Coldplay's previously released albums, or at the very least, the latest 3 or even 4, have been more than just a bunch of artfully created music tracks. They have all been stories, epic journeys or tales strung together piece by piece, chapter by chapter, song by song. The albums are also often literally, as well as figuratively, fluid with their content, in the sense that every song on a given album connects smoothly to the next one, without a single break in the sound.
Thus, it almost doesn't make sense if you listen to the tracks out of order, at least not the first couple of times, because this would almost be the equivalent of opening a novel and choosing single chapters to read at a time; the story would make no sense.
While Coldplay has indeed taken somewhat of a different direction and incorporated a new sound with Ghost Stories, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that they also seem to have returned to their roots a bit on certain tracks. I personally heard this most in O, a simple piano & voice creation with that familiar melancholy and wistful aura that we all know and love from the old, vintage Coldplay. The piano sequence is fluid and soothing, while Chris Martin's muted voice delivers bittersweet lyrics.
Coincidentally, the lyrics of this song are what move me the most. Martin sings of his lover, who sees love merely as "a flock of birds hovering above." Such an interesting metaphor, because it creates a transient image of love: coming and going at its leisure, feeling affection when it wants with no concern for its partner's feelings. Martin sings that he continuously looks up to the sky and prays "before the dawn" in the hope that on any given day this metaphorical "flock of birds" might be present; the flock stays put only for a fleeting moment, so he hopes to see it as often as possible.
Listen to O here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA-Wj8h-a5A
"Fly on, ride through, maybe some day I'll fly next to you."
I believe this song carries a basic but universal message in it that all can relate to: the desire for love, and how difficult it can sometimes be to hold on to the love of the person we want it from most. Such an exquisitely beautiful yet almost lonely way to describe perhaps the most elusive and sought after thing in life.
On the flip side, I hope everyone out there is enjoying their first few weeks (or days, God Bless the quarter system), of summer! Whether you're sitting in an office cubicle, binge-watching House of Cards on Netflix, or soaking up sun, remember: you're doing it right. Except you should probably go listen to some Coldplay right about now, if you haven't already heard the wonder that is Ghost Stories. ;) They're a kick-ass band and they always will be.
Happy Summer!!!
<3 Syd
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