jack & jones finds out howColdplay went all hugh grant like
7. maj 2012
Coldplay is heading on the road with songs from the band’s latest album, Mylo Xyloto. Before getting into the band bus, lead singer Chris Martin shares a few moments talking about how he nervously convinced Rihanna to sing with him, his opinion on X Factor, and why he will never do “a Robbie Williams”.
Chris Martin, we are in an age where singles are becoming more and more important. The kids aren’t that crazy about the classic album format, but that is what you have done with “Mylo Xyloto”. Why?
I took a look at Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town”, at Dylan’s “Blonde on Blonde” and The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s” – you know, real albums. And I realised that we had to make a decision: Even though the album is an endangered species, we can make a really cohesive and good album. We have reached an age where you either have to deliver or stop. Just because you used to be popular doesn’t mean that you are now.
But you also have some aces up your sleeve. On the track “Princess of China” you convinced Rihanna to sing with you. How did you charm your way into that?
We played a concert in Las Vegas and I met her and asked “Do you think there’s a chance you would?” I was all Hugh Grant-like and stuttered out every word. She has such a fantastic voice that is totally different than mine. When we recorded the vocals, I though “Wow, you sound different”, but I think that is because she sang a different type of song than we are used to hearing from her. This song was just written by a guy from southwest England.
With the ambition you are showing, are you aiming to be the biggest band in England?
We will never be as good as Take That, but that is ok. We are too old to worry about that type of thing. Gary Barlow is like the captain of English music – he’s the John Terry of musicians. We are different. We’re like players who get contracts in Italy. We’re not necessarily as popular at home in England as we are in the rest of the world. But Gary is definitely number one.
Gary Barlow has also become a judge in X Factor. Do you watch that show?
We love X Factor as much as everyone else. I can’t stand the stage where they tell people how bad they are, but as soon as they get to the live part, I enjoy it. No matter how much critique is dished out, they sing really good songs every week, bringing old music to a new audience. And that is great.
But if you shook off the other guys in Coldplay and went solo, couldn’t you be the new captain of England?
I will never do a Robbie Williams. We are all on the same page and we’re quite lucky, because not all bands feel that way. Our main focus is on making our band as good as it can be. We love what we do and we are thankful to have the opportunity to do it. And if we didn’t have each other, we wouldn’t be able to it. We have seen so many band that have changed people’s personalities or made somebody think that now they want to do something else and just smash it all. We really don’t want to do that.
