My Coldplay.com - A Coldplay Blog

Coldplay - Violet Hill - Single Review

By Gerard McGarry on Tuesday, 29 April 2008.
Filed under Rock Music, Single Reviews. Tags: 2008, Coldplay, Thumbs Up

Well, they promised us different, and I can confirm that Coldplay have delivered something different. But is it good? Hell yeah.
Even speaking as a determined Coldplay hater, Violet Hill sounds dark, foreboding, and heavy. Less of the piano-sturbation, and Chris Martin retires the falsetto in favour of a more earthy vocal tone.

Violet Hill is a song rich in texture: fuzzed-up power chords, wailing string bends in the background, and some very atmospheric drumming from Will Champion. This most definitely rocks.
If this is a sampler of Coldplay’s new direction, then it’s certainly enough to persuade me to listen to the album. Unlike other Coldplay songs I’ve heard, this has balls.
Gentlemen…well played. Thumbs up.

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In this week’s NME magazine, Chris Martin talks about the bands new base, where they can avoid the paparazzi he hates. He has revealed that Coldplay have hired a new headquarters for the band, specifically designed to deflect attention from the group and help them avoid photographers.

Shifting topics Martin explained how Coldplay ended up working with the legendary Eno. “It was Brian’s idea,” he revealed. “I would often meet up with him for tea and start playing tabla machines…and that just turned into a years worth of production.”

The band also revealed how Arcade Fire influenced the new album: “After he worked on ‘Neon Bible’ Win Butler told us, ‘You should work with this guy, [long time Eno-collaborator] Markus Dravs - he’ll whip you lot into shape!’ ” explained Martin.

Coldplay
“Violet Hill”
4/29/2008 By Cam Lindsay

From the announcement of the album’s title to the recent unveiling of the artwork, it appears something funny has been in Coldplay’s drinking water.

It has to be said that Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends (out June 17) is a ridiculous name for an album. Yes, everyone will be shaking their bonbons when they speak it, even Chris Martin, who’s admitted so to the BBC. Translated as “long live life” with a nonsensical add-on, it shows they’re still shooting to uplift, but perhaps the even bolder choice in using Eugène Delacroix’s La Liberté guidant le peuple (”Liberty Leading the People”) demonstrates their desire to break from what we’ve come to expect from Britain’s biggest band.

Joining the ranks of big name artists using the web to premiere tuneage (Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, you all know that!), Martin and co. have chosen to give fans a sneak peek by giving away “Violet Hill” on the band’s website.
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I’ve been distracted and chewing my nails all day long because I’ve had no access to a computer or a radio until now. I finally got home and downloaded ‘Violet Hill’.

I’ve given the song really thorough listen. I wasn’t instantly taken by it, because it’s so different to Coldplay as we know it, but I’ve given it a chance to permeate and make it’s way to my heart, as all Coldplay songs do.

I like the longish, trumpet laced intro, which goes from ear to ear on headphones [I'm listening on my ipod as I've had so many computer problems lately, I don't have sound].

I like the more distorted guitarwork on the song [and also do I hear spoons?]. It has a military vibe about it which obviously goes well with the lyrics. I love the heavy plodding beat with Will smashing those cymbals with all his might, during the chorus, holding meticulous time. I’m already imagining the band on stage blasting this one out to a crowd going wild. It truely is EPIC!

It is very reminiscent of Genesis/Peter Gabriel in it’s style, but there are still elements of Coldplay. Jonny Buckland gets his obligatory guitar solo and he comes up with the goods yet again. I absolutely adored the end of the song, when it suddenly goes very quite with Chris reprising the chorus to just the accompanyment of a piano. That actually made me tingle a bit - a nice touch. I also love that disonant last chord as it make the song slightly off kilter.

It’s interesting that Coldplay have become storytellers on this song, but have stayed true to their universal theme of love. I’m so looking forward to hearing more from Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends.

Here’s the lyrics…

VIOLET HILL

Was a long and dark December
From the rooftops I remember
There was snow
White snow

Clearly I remember
From the windows they were watching
While we froze down below

When the future’s architectured
By a carnival of idiots on show
You’d better lie low

If you love me
Won’t you let me know?

Was a long and dark December
When the banks became cathedrals
And the fog
Became God

Priests clutched onto bibles
Hollowed out to fit their rifles
And the cross was held aloft
Bury me in honor
When I’m dead and hit the ground
My love’s opposed when unfold

If you love me
Won’t you let me know?

I don’t want to be a soldier
Who the captain of some sinking ship
Would stow far below

If you love me
Why’d you let me go?

I took my love down to Violet Hill
There we sat in snow
All that time she was silent still

So if you love me
Won’t you let me know?

If you love me,
Won’t you let me know?

And it’s quite positive…

It’s been out for a total of three hours, but that’s been plenty long enough for Gigwise readers to say exactly what they think about Coldplay’s new single ‘Violet Hill’.

Taken from the band’s forthcoming fourth album, ‘Viva La Vida’, the song sees the band take a new, more experimental direction compared to previous releases.

Music fans started sending us their feedback within minutes of the song airing on BBC 6 Music and the majority of it has been positive.

“Good to see they are changing things around a bit. I think its great… Can’t wait for the album,” said Gframps.

Meanwhile, Andrew said: “It’s very different for them, but I have to say that I am impressed.

“It will be a hit this summer, ”If you love me, why don’t you let me know!!” can’t wait for more!”

Not all the feedback has been quite so good, however, with one listener saying they weren’t sure whether it was “good or bad” that the song reminded them of Oasis.

James was also unimpressed, saying it sound like “dad rock”.

“More clunking, overrated music from Coldplay,” he said. “Three years away has led to no creative spark.”

http://www.gigwise.com

What do you think…?

Singer supports fellow friend…

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has said that he finds the debate about whether US rapper Jay-Z is good or bad for Glastonbury “embarrassing”.

Martin, who is close friends with the rapper, said he couldn’t understand the “palaver” considering “the best musician on the planet is headlining”.

“We recently came back to England to find all this all this hoo-hah, grandpas complaining about things they don’t know about,” Martin told the BBC.

“Coldplay not playing and Jay-Z playing is exactly what needs to happen for the world. He’s the best rapper in the world.”

The debate has continued to rage over Jay-Z’s inclusion at this years festival since it was revealed that he would headline the Pyramid Stage on Saturday June 28th.

Martin’s wife, Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow, has already offered her support to the rapper, who she called the best in the world.

Meanwhile, Coldplay also unveiled their new single, ‘Violet Hill’, today. Give your verdict on the song below.

http://www.gigwise.com

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UK pop-rockers Coldplay, still signed to a traditional record label (Radiohead’s old one EMI, actually) announced Monday that they were getting on the free-music bandwagon by making their new single “Violet Hill” available for a week as a free download on their official site starting Tuesday morning. But Coldplay, unlike Radiohead or NIN, have a string of huge radio hits and more than 30 million album sales to date, and demand for “Violet Hill” has caused Coldplay.com to crash intermittently. The band has made the song available on their MySpace page to satisfy fans who have been unable to access the official download.

“Violet Hill” comes from Coldplay’s forthcoming fourth album “Viva La Vida, Or, Death And All His Friends,” and some critics have noted that the song marks changes in more than just its method of distribution. Ireland’s State Magazine commented on the track’s “raucous, bluesy guitar” and “driving rhythm,” while Rolling Stone, in a preview of “Viva La Vida,” said several of its tracks are “rougher around the edges, with distorted guitars and more prominent percussion. The lyrics are darker, dealing with recurring themes of death and loneliness. And on several songs, [singer Chris] Martin extends his vocal palette considerably beyond the falsetto that has largely defined him, exhibiting a lower, sexier mode that feels more personal and real.” The UK’s Times Online posited that the band are “seeking to shake their image as middlebrow balladeers and attract a fresh audience of younger web-savvy music lovers.”

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Band set to announce details of the show soon

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Coldplay wanted to “get better rather than bigger” with their new album, singer Chris Martin has said.

The band came into Radio 1 to give first single Violet Hill its world exclusive first play. Chris Martin says this record is shorter than the ones they’ve released in the past. He said: “I think you can say what you like about our record, but its brevity is its strongest feature.”

Violet Hill is available as a free download for one week. But Coldplay’s website briefly crashed after it was released. Speaking about the rest of the album, Martin continued: “It’s colourful and it’s short which is what these things should be. The intention was to try and be good and get better as opposed to bigger.”

The album is Coldplay’s fourth studio effort and the follow-up to 2005’s X&Y, which went to number one in 22 countries.

Other tracks on the album include Life In Technicolor, Cemeteries Of London, Strawberry Swing and Death And All His Friends. Lead singer Chris Martin said: “We felt incredibly hungry to prove why people have heard of us. I wanted it to be OK to be that 16-year-old who says they like Coldplay in the playground. Hopefully with this record they won’t get teased so much.”