Skip to content
News

Coldplay Channel ‘Latin America and Spain’ on New Record

When Coldplay, fronted by save-the-world squawker Chris Martin, refuted hiatus speculations by announcing the band’s search for a studio in which to “sort of hole up and see what happens,” the Brit quartet soon found themselves in a seemingly unlikely place: a Spanish church. According to a collection of website posts, for the follow up to 2005’s chart-topping opus X&Y, Coldplay has been hiding out in a myriad of Barcelona’s cathedrals recording new material, which reportedly has taken on traits of its environs. “The sights, sounds and flavors of Latin America and Spain have definitely been infused into this album,” the post read. “The band visited Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico earlier this year. Chris [Martin] then came up with the idea of recording in Spain… the music and lyrics have begun to reflect the strengthening Hispanic theme. No maracas or castanets, but a vibrancy and colorfulness that owes much to the atmospheres of Buenos Aires and Barcelona. The effect is subtle but important.”

Bouncing from church to church with only “an acoustic guitar, a couple of mics, a laptop, and some headphones” and “playing at the feet of archangels,” Coldplay employs yet another new — setting appropriate — musical aspect for the yet-to-be titled forthcoming record. And it’s one that producer Brian Eno is apparently quite fond of — group singing. “It’s an odd scene: a host of saints look down impassively upon four unkempt band members, circled around a single mic stand, singing loudly together as recorded guitars reverberate around the church… Brian [Eno] often joins them: group singing is one of his greatest joys.”

On the Web:
coldplay.com

Talk: Will music lovers pray to Coldplay’s forthcoming effort?