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If Coldplay had a mission statement for Moon Music, their 10th album, it would be to bring people together. While not as soft-spoken as their first entry in the Music of the Spheres series, From Earth with Love, Moon Music takes the best of both worlds.
The album features radio-friendly hits (“Feels Like I'm Falling in Love” and “We Pray”) as well as dance music (“Good Feelings”). Chris Martin even has a poetic love ballad, “All My Love,” towards the end of the album.
Moon Music is not filled with stadium rockers like A Head Full of Dreams, nor is it as good as Parachutes. But it is their best work since their 2015 album.
That is largely thanks to its hopefulness. A recurring theme is unity and love, something Coldplay preaches like their heroes, U2. And like the Irish rock band, they recorded some anthems that will be staples of their live concerts going forward.
Coldplay's Moon Music review
The opening of Moon Music resembles Phoebe Bridgers' Punisher. The opening track, “Moon Music,” opens with a relaxing piano riff before Martin begins crooning, calling out for a connection with someone.
It segues into Coldplay's latest album's biggest hit, “Feels Like I'm Falling in Love.” While the song is guilty of one of Martin and Coldplay's biggest tropes—the “la, la, la, la” refrains—it is an undeniably upbeat love song.
Martin singing about falling in love for the first time like a teenager reminds listeners of how sweet the band's intentions are. It does not mean you have to like them or all of their songs (“A Sky Full of Stars” is a headache), but they are taking over U2's spot in the rock world as the harmless group trying to pour good into the world.
This sentiment remains throughout Moon Music. The album's final track, “One World,” laments that “in the end it's just love.” Simple and effective.
Brian Eno has a songwriting credit on “One World,” and it adds up. The ambiance is Eno-coded, while its lyrics resemble something U2 would have written (they do have a song called “One,” after all).
Radio hits and dance music
It does feel like Coldplay is taking the Ed Sheeran route with their musical direction. Both artists are releasing albums with very few “radio-friendly” hits. Sure, Moon Music has “Feels Like I'm Falling in Love,” “We Pray,” and “All My Love,” but think about A Head Full of Dreams.
That album featured several single-worthy songs, from its title track to “Adventure of a Lifetime.” Moon Music does have a song that resembles “Adventure of a Lifetime”: “Good Feelings,” but they largely stay away from the EDM sound that has plagued their songs in the last decade.
The resemblance between “Good Feelings” and “Adventure of a Lifetime” is uncanny. It is almost like it was taken from the cutting room floor of the Head Full of Dreams sessions.
Either way, Coldplay is finding a comfortable balance between being themselves and a popular band. If nothing else, their latest offers a little bit of everything for every fan.
There are some stumbles. “We Pray” is not nearly as good as the promotion of it would suggest. And for as beautiful as the piano playing is in “Alien Hits/Alien Radio,” it feels like filler that is supposed to pad the length of the album to an acceptable runtime.
The highlights
The biggest highlight is undoubtedly “All My Love.” It is mostly a Martin solo song, as an orchestra comes in as the song progresses. For as cheesy as it is, the song has an endearing quality to it.
No one will confuse it for “Yellow,” the band's best love song, but it is better than any other love song they have written in recent memory. It features a simple sentiment from one lover to another.
The upbeat “Jupiter” has a really fun guitar riff. For as limiting as space metaphors would appear, Coldplay found a way around it becoming redundant.
Should you listen to Moon Music?
For its scope and space metaphors, Moon Music somehow brings the band back to Earth with a personal album. The band has been around for over two decades, and they are entering the twilight of their career.
Moon Music provides Coldplay with a chance to rediscover their love ballad roots while not completely throwing away the identity they found in the 2010s.
With only two albums remaining, it is unclear if Coldplay intends to make the Music of the Spheres series a trilogy. Coldplay's final two albums after Moon Music could see a continued regression into the band they used to be. From Earth with Love peeled them back a little bit, and it would be great to see them continue going back to their roots.
It must be tempting to be the biggest band in the world and aim for the stars. Sometimes, the best stuff is found on Earth, and it seems Coldplay has discovered that with Moon Music.
Grade: A-
Moon Music is out now.
