CHRIS MARTIN ON THE MOMENTS THAT DEFINE COLDPLAY

The frontman looks back on 10 of the band's best songs - and talks about how he's learned to let go

- LARISHA PAUL

Chris Martin remembers what it felt like when the script flipped. It happened just after Coldplay’s second album, 2002’s A Rush of Blood to the Head. “We started to get the backlash to having become popular, and then suddenly we were the least popular band in the world as well,” the frontman says over Zoom from Los Angeles. “We never had to deal with that before, and we were a total mess.” With their 10th album, Moon Music, out now, Martin looks back on the lessons they’ve learned since then — and tells us why he sees the band’s story winding down soon. “By the time we finish album 12, which is the end, it will all make sense,” he says. “So if it doesn’t sound like Coldplay right now, don’t worry, because it will eventually.”

“Yellow” (2000)

Without this song, there wouldn’t be any of the others. Like any of our really good songs, I had nothing to do with it. It just happened to arrive to me. We were recording in Wales, and the tape machine broke. There was a problem, something was broken, and it created a space for something cool to arrive. I went outside, and I was with our producer at the time, Ken Nelson. He said, “Look at the stars.” It was such a beautiful night. Before I knew it, this whole song just dropped through.

“Clocks” (2002)

I think if I was to try and work out what that piano was inspired by, there’s a Bruce Springsteen song where the piano part has a similar kind of arpeggio. But I don’t know. The lyrics, even on the record, are not quite finished. It’s one of the songs that we still have to play, every show, and it’s fun to play. When we played Glastonbury, we played the big stage for the first time that year, and we got this massive green laser. Ever since then, whenever we play “Clocks,” there has to be a laser.

“Fix You” (2005)