Coldplay Falls Flat on ‘Moon Music’
For one of the most widely known pop-rock acts in the industry, the British band delivered a lackluster collection of disjointed songs and tacky lyricism
Brit pop-rock band Coldplay released their 10th studio album last week, Moon Music, a 10-song collection of non-cohesive tunes that tries to tackle the issue of humanity but falls short with lackluster lyrics and overly produced pop ballads. Their answer to all of humanity’s woes is one we’ve heard before: In the end it’s just love.
Coldplay is one of the most popular musical groups in the world. But in the chase to make music that appeals to the masses, the band has given listeners no concrete reason to seek them out. And maybe that’s the goal—to be the band everyone knows. But that’s not how I listen to music. They give me nothing to hold onto and no reason to connect.
Moon Music is inconsistent—which isn’t always a bad thing. But in this case it is. It doesn’t work as a cohesive album because there’s zero flow. On one song, WE PRAY, we hear singer Chris Martin offer soft rap verses over pop beats, with random features from the likes of Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna and TINI. I couldn’t tell you when who is singing what. And then the next song, JUPiTER, gives us a cheesy acoustic ballad that sounds like it was written by a 13-year-old falling in love for the first time. The sentiment of “never give up” is repeated throughout, which is certainly a positive thing to say but doesn’t really tell us anything.
Coldplay has never been a band you go to for super intricate lyricism, but their songs used to hold meaning. I’m thinking Yellow, Sparks, Parachutes—their debut album Parachutes in 2000 meant something, like unconditional love.
I may be a pessimist, but I don’t connect with the idea of trying to save humanity through flat pop songs that tiptoe around talking about humanity. The songs default to the empty sentiment of peace, love and happiness. Words hold so much—why not use them properly? Moon Music is an example of pop failing to add much of anything to music.
But Coldplay are solid musicians, which is why an album like this is disappointing. Moon Music would have been more effective as a fully instrumental album, and the opener MOON MUSiC, featuring Jon Hopkins, almost does that for me. It sounds like this dreamy, sci-fi tune that might be layered in the background of an intensely emotional scene of a movie like Interstellar. These gorgeous piano ballads are met with soaring violin melodies.
ALL MY LOVE is a likely favorite on the album, simply because it sticks to what it should be: a soft piano ballad. It builds emotion, though I can’t pinpoint which emotion exactly. It’s the most reminiscent of Coldplay’s early work and is an easy listen.
There’s a lot I could say about the rest of Moon Music. GOOD FEELiNGS makes me feel like I’m walking around a Forever 21 retail store, stressed and not finding anything I like. But the band did the right thing in featuring Ayra Starr—the song may have worked better if it were just her.
This is the first time I’ve seen a band title a song with a single emoji, a rainbow. The Maya Angelou outro in that song was enjoyable, but I didn’t really understand its purpose.
iAAM has this booming pop urgency that just goes nowhere, and it has a guitar riff reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s Black or White and John Mellencamp’s Jack and Diane. AETERNA sounds like a dance club song, yet it ends with a choir singing and clapping. There is just so much going on.
The album closes out with ONE WORLD, which attempts to convey a message of unity and togetherness, without really telling us why and what for. The nearly seven-minute song has chirping birds. After a long pause, it ends with Martin la-la-la-ing along to Hallelujah.
This is all to say that Coldplay will continue to sell out massive stadium tours, and folks will absolutely listen to Moon Music. But I just ask that we challenge musicians who make it to such heights yet don’t give us a reason to feel something. I admire the band’s dedication to greening the music industry by taking measures to reduce their carbon footprint drastically. Maybe they could put that much commitment into their next album?
Kendall Polidori is The Rockhound, Luckbox’s resident rock critic. Follow her reviews on Instagram and X @rockhoundlb, TikTok @rockhoundkp
