Coldplay have teamed up with hotshot Swedish producer Tim Bergling, better known to the world as superstar Avicii. And yes, it sounds exactly like you’d expect a crossover between the arena-straddling Brits and a chart-busting EDM DJ to sound like.
Right down to the title. ‘A Sky Full Of Stars’ begins with bright, syncopated piano chords and Chris Martin’s distinctive vocals and trademark vague lyrics before Avicii’s production tweaks it with flange, prepping for the inevitable 4/4 drop. Imagine Coldplay covering Avicii’s banjo-EDM hit ‘Wake Me Up’ and you’re more than half-way there.
The track makes no qualms about its intentions as a full-tilt assault on both the pop and dance charts and is destined to soundtrack sports montages and commercials the world over.
It’s essentially radio-friendly formula fulfilled, listen close and you can almost hear the sound of record execs rubbing their mitts in anticipation between the airy guitar atmospherics and sub-woofer tweaked beats. (Whether such ruthless calculation is such a bad thing is another argument…).
‘A Sky Full Of Stars’ is the penultimate track, and the latest taste of, Ghost Stories, dropping on 19th May via Parlophone and Coldplay’s first new album in three years.
Take a listen below and try not to picture footage of World Cup soccer highlights.
