The "Mylo Xyloto" Era
Mylo Xyloto is a concept album, according to Chris Martin, "based on a love story with a happy ending." Two protagonists living in an oppressive, dystopian, urban environment, meet one another through a gang and fall in love. Lyrically, the album is inspired by "old school American graffiti" and "the White Rose Movement." Martin also said that the album was influenced by HBO TV seriesThe Wire.
Subway car in New York, the 1970s graffiti of the city inspired the album. Coldplay had stated on several occasions, long before the release, that they wanted the album to be "more acoustic" and "more intimate" than its predecessor, 2008's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. The band later said they got to a point where they were trying to make two records, a stripped-down album, that started to be recorded first, along with an electric one that was already being called Mylo Xyloto by the band. However they later decided to combine both albums. Drummer Will Champion explained that the band realized they couldn't focus on more than one thing at once, and songs like "Paradise" couldn't be played in an acoustic style. Chris Martin pointed another song as a reason too:
"We have a song called Charlie Brown, which was the centrepiece of this other record we started first. We were playing the riff on an accordion and Guy came in one morning and said, 'I'm afraid I have to put my foot down. I don't want to speak out of turn, but I will not allow this song to be played on an accordion - that has to go in with the Mylo bunch'. So then we thought - let's just make one album."
In the end some songs composed for the acoustic album such as "Us Against the World" and "U.F.O" maintained the "stripped" approach, while others such as "Charlie Brown" changed into a new form. Songs from both records ended up on the final album, world beat elements from the predecessor Viva La Vida are present but the overall production of it became electronic influenced. The electro rock sound can be heard through the whole album, beginning with opening song Hurts Like Heaven which has synthesised sounds and vocals predominantly on vocoder. The next track, Paradise, also shows the band stepping outside of their comfort zone and going into the new electronic territory. Additionally, this song has an R&B beat style, which is also featured on Princess Of China. This track opens with an anxious blend of synths and guitars and then goes into an R&B type beat. The album has three short instrumentals which are included as noodling experimental electronic interjections on the record.
Chris Martin hinted at the album's title prior to release, saying it "will probably begin with an M." During interviews the band has already given many different reasons and meanings to the album's name. In some they stated that it had no meaning and that they had had the title in mind for at least two years before deciding upon it. But Martin also said it was reference to the album's characters, the girl (Mylo) and the boy (Xyloto) respectively. Another meaning suggested by the frontman was that the name was supposed to be a graffiti tag for the band, relating "xylophone" to the word "xyloto". Much of the art was done by Paris 1974.
Subway car in New York, the 1970s graffiti of the city inspired the album. Coldplay had stated on several occasions, long before the release, that they wanted the album to be "more acoustic" and "more intimate" than its predecessor, 2008's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. The band later said they got to a point where they were trying to make two records, a stripped-down album, that started to be recorded first, along with an electric one that was already being called Mylo Xyloto by the band. However they later decided to combine both albums. Drummer Will Champion explained that the band realized they couldn't focus on more than one thing at once, and songs like "Paradise" couldn't be played in an acoustic style. Chris Martin pointed another song as a reason too:
"We have a song called Charlie Brown, which was the centrepiece of this other record we started first. We were playing the riff on an accordion and Guy came in one morning and said, 'I'm afraid I have to put my foot down. I don't want to speak out of turn, but I will not allow this song to be played on an accordion - that has to go in with the Mylo bunch'. So then we thought - let's just make one album."
In the end some songs composed for the acoustic album such as "Us Against the World" and "U.F.O" maintained the "stripped" approach, while others such as "Charlie Brown" changed into a new form. Songs from both records ended up on the final album, world beat elements from the predecessor Viva La Vida are present but the overall production of it became electronic influenced. The electro rock sound can be heard through the whole album, beginning with opening song Hurts Like Heaven which has synthesised sounds and vocals predominantly on vocoder. The next track, Paradise, also shows the band stepping outside of their comfort zone and going into the new electronic territory. Additionally, this song has an R&B beat style, which is also featured on Princess Of China. This track opens with an anxious blend of synths and guitars and then goes into an R&B type beat. The album has three short instrumentals which are included as noodling experimental electronic interjections on the record.
Chris Martin hinted at the album's title prior to release, saying it "will probably begin with an M." During interviews the band has already given many different reasons and meanings to the album's name. In some they stated that it had no meaning and that they had had the title in mind for at least two years before deciding upon it. But Martin also said it was reference to the album's characters, the girl (Mylo) and the boy (Xyloto) respectively. Another meaning suggested by the frontman was that the name was supposed to be a graffiti tag for the band, relating "xylophone" to the word "xyloto". Much of the art was done by Paris 1974.