Frontman Chris Martin (center) and Coldplay find love on their fifth album, “Mylo Xyloto,” which has electronica tracks, acoustic songs and a duet with Rihanna. (
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Album of the week
COLDPLAY
“Mylo Xyloto”
3 STARS
Coldplay’s fifth album, “Mylo Xyloto,” is a rollercoaster ride that twists with electronica, turns on acoustic and electric styling and makes you scream when all three elements come together in a single song.
This loosely tied concept album is about finding love in the ruins of the modern world, according to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
Over the course of 14 tracks, the arrangements range from grandly layered pop anthems to hymn-like acoustic ballads where Martin is intimate and introspective.
Although “Mylo” isn’t as powerful an album as “Viva la Vida,” the band’s blockbuster 2008 record, it’s a welcome continuation that, like “Viva,” gets its signature sound from uber-producer Brian Eno’s unique electronica. It’s so pronounced on this collection that the band calls it “Enoxification” in the songwriting credits of nearly every track.
Its trio of opening songs — “Hurts Like Heaven,” “Paradise” and the very “Viva”-esque “Charlie Brown” — are incredibly peppy and poppy rockers laced with guitars, orchestral strings and atmospheric electronics. Martin’s vocals are also on the mark as his wispy tenor flips from singalong “whoa, whoa, whoa” choruses to the thin air of his falsetto.
While lots of the lyrics explore falling in and out of love, there is also a sinister Orwellian undercurrent that breaks the surface in the gentle acoustic ballad “Us Against the World.” Later in the record the feeling of oppression blossoms into full-blown paranoia on “Major Minus,” where Martin’s voice is shaded with a wary quality as he sings “They got one eye watching you, one eye on what you do, so be careful who it is you’re talking to.”
One of the most buzzed about tracks, “Princess of China,” is a he said-she said duet framed as a lovers’ spat between Martin and R&B siren Rihanna. While this tune is definitely new musical ground for Coldplay, the R&B dance-pop beats are straight out of the RiRi playbook, and she even gets Martin to sound slightly soulful.
Longtime fans might even remember and appreciate the classic Coldplay piano-driven sound on the track “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart.”
Download of the week
KELLYCLARKSON
“What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”
3 1/2 STARS
Kelly Clarkson, the “American Idol” winner who succeeded in actually becoming a pop idol, returns today with the ballad-heavy collection “Stronger.” Amid the tough chick tunes on this disc, the track with the most muscle is “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger).” Clarkson’s vocals are white-knuckle angry as she spits out lyrics such as “You think I’ll come running back? Maybe you don’t know me, because you’re dead wrong.” The propulsive, techno-pop melody of this dance track nicely stands up to the hard-hitting, empowered-woman lyrics. Clarkson makes the point that she doesn’t need a partner when she sings that she has “me, myself and I.”