The most notable aspect of Coldplay's latest album is the title itself.
If you were to look up the phrase "Mylo Xyloto" on Google, you would literally receive nothing but results related to Coldplay.
"Mylo Xyloto" doesn't mean anything, according to lead singer Chris Martin. This gives "Mylo Xyloto" somewhat of an ominous, original feel that comes with just reading the title and looking at the colorful graffiti on the album cover.
However, Coldplay's fifth studio album is anything but original when compared to the band's previous work. In fact, this album has the band returning to its melancholy roots from "Parachutes" and "A Rush of Cold Blood to the Head" days, instead of being more adventurous like when they were writing "Vida la Vida or Death and All His Friends."
Once again working with producer Brian Eno behind the synthesizers and co-writing, Coldplay draws inspiration from both 1970s New York graffiti and the White Rose Nazi-resistance movement, singing about issues in the world as well their usual theme of heartbreak.
"Mylo Xyloto" features a set of pure instrumental interludes that serve as lead-ins for the tracks that follow. The instrumental title track at the beginning of the album, for instance, conveys an inviting musical tone that prepares the listeners for the pulsing, alluring tone in "Hurts like Heaven."
R&B pop princess Rihanna makes an effective guest singer on the electro-pop track and the album's third single, "Princess of China," a richly textured piece of melancholia featuring dark, fuzzy bass lines as well as adequate chemistry between Martin and Rihanna. The sweetness in Rihanna's singing meets the soulfulness of Martin's voice in a song that speaks of fading love ("Once upon a time we burn bright/ Now all we ever seem to do is fight").
Fun fact: This is Coldplay's second song that has them facing plagiarism allegations – this time from Vietnamese newspapers who claim the band ripped the song off from the Vietnamese song "Ra Ngo Tung Kinh (Chanting at the Alley)."
Most of the other sweeter, softer tracks feature that subject of heartbreak that non-listeners like to poke fun at. Case in point: The lyrics in "Up in Flames" depict heartbreak as feeling like it's the end of the world.
Not all the songs on the album are completely cheesy pop melancholia, though.
The album's second track, "Hurts like Heaven" may be the band's first song upbeat enough that listeners could dance to it. With lyrics like, "and at the streets are rising and you'd rather sing/ don't let them take control," the song sounds like it is trying to encourage its listeners to rise against authority.
There's also the album's first single, "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall," which consists of a sound just as colorful as the song's music video.
Though the soulfulness in Martin's voice does add some depth to the lyrical meaning behind each song, the songs sound bland when written on paper, making it seem like Martin is just rhyming for the sake of rhyming. Musical space is constantly filled in certain songs like "Paradise" and "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall," with the band's endless "who-oh-oh-oh" hook. Other songs consist of vague opening lines within the lyrics such as in "Princess of China" ("Once upon a time someone ran away.")
However, "Mylo Xyloto" isn't an album to be heard for the lyrics, but for the grafting of soul into the softer songs, the enjoyable blending of synth-rock and electronic excursions and Jonny Buckland's growing talents behind the guitar.
"Mylo Xyloto" isn't one of Coldplay's exceptional albums due to its unoriginality, but it will definitely please fans.