After sneaking a new song out on us last
week, Coldplay sprung another surprise
on us Monday morning (March 3) with the
reveal of the details on their upcoming
sixth album.
The nine-track Ghost Stories is due out
on May 19, with pre-orders available now
on iTunes. After the ambush minimalist
preview of the track “Midnight,” they also
announced that the album’s official first
single will be “Magic,” which is available
for download with pre-orders.
Not much is known about the follow-up
to 2011’s experimental Mylo Xyloto, but
“Midnight” and “Magic” both hint that the
group may have moved away from the
radio-friendly anthems that have made
them arena stars across the planet into a
more introspective, quiet zone.
The full track listing for Ghost Stories:
1. “Always In My Head”
2. “Magic”
3. “Ink”
4. “True Love”
5. “Midnight”
6. “Another’s Arms”
7. “Oceans”
8. “A Sky Full Of Stars”
9. “O”
A deluxe edition of the album with three
bonus tracks will be available at Target.
The band will headline the opening night
of the first U.S. iTunes Festival at SXSW
on March 11, with the performance
streamed live and on-demand for free
through the iTunes store.
Set to a spare drum machine-like beat,
warm, subtle keyboards and a throbbing
bass, “Magic” features the lines, “Call it
magic/ Call it true/ Call it magic when I’m
with you.”
The song follows a mostly midtempo path,
with singer Chris Martin staying in a reflective, sing/talk pocket until climbing into
his signature falsetto midway through, at
which point echoey U2-like guitars bleed
into the mix.
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