Stepping back from the blazing energy of 2008's
Viva La Vida and 2011's
Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay's sixth album is an introspective, bittersweet meditation on love and loss that sounds every bit as spectral as its name suggests. The band's gift for soaring melodies is evident throughout
Ghost Stories - particularly on the magnetic first single,
Magic. But aside from the EDM-infused throb of
A Sky Full of Stars, the album offers little of the triumphant grandeur that defines the band's stadium filling oeuvre. Instead, Chris Martin's heart-rending falsetto floats along in the haze of synth-washed ambience (as on the entrancing Kid-A influenced
Midnight) or sparely accompanied by acoustic instruments (Oceans,
O). When the final track fades out, offering a wordless, melancholy hymn from a distant choir, Ghost Stories demonstrates the expressive power of understatement. - iTunes
CD Details
- Release Date: May 19, 2014
- Record Label: Parlophone
- UPC: 825646305919
- Number of Discs: 1
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