Before releasing their comeback album, Ghost Stories, Coldplay subtly dropped “Magic” late Sunday night as a preview of things to come. Sadly, “Magic” is causing everything but excitement for the British rock band’s sixth album. Although indisputably catchy with its consistent beat, “Magic” lacks Coldplay’s infamous lyrical strength.
Chris Martin is no stranger to romantic poetry. Songs including “Yellow,” “Green Eyes,” “Fix You” and “The Scientist” tell moving stories with love as their central theme.
He sings, “I came here with a load, and it feels so much lighter since I met you. Honey, you should know that I could never go on without you.” In their timeless hit “Yellow,” Martin pours his heart into the lyrics: “Your skin and bones turn into something beautiful . . . for you I’d bleed myself dry.” “Swallowed in the Sea” features the lines: “I could write a song, a hundred miles long, well that’s where I belong and you belong with me.”
Apparently this heartfelt promise is no longer, for “Magic” conveys nothing to the person it’s written for save a few elementary rhymes repeated for nearly five minutes. Coldplay has a history of restating the same line (e.g. “Trouble”), but the mantra is usually somewhat touching. In “Magic,” Chris Martin says “I do” and “I don’t” a whopping thirteen times with little else in between.
As artists, the group naturally wants to experiment with their sound, genre and target audience. Indeed, they successfully topped charts with upbeat songs such as “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.” But fans want some of Coldplay’s identity and signature characteristics to remain as they branch into new musical territories. “Magic” eliminates the poetic lyrics, the piano melodies and Martin’s passionate belting.
Fans will have to listen to Ghost Stories come May 19 to see if the once beloved Brits have ditched their sound entirely.
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