Coldplay Gives Good Grief In “Charlie Brown”

Life is a technicolor fantasy, at least it is in Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto" world. The platinum-selling band continues their latest CD's neon-hued theme in the newest video from the album, "Charlie Brown." In the just-released visuals, the lead singer Chris Martin and his British alternative rock band find themselves in the middle of a pulsating, colorful whirl of a club scene, performing for the masses as the gyrate along with the music.
According to Martin, this latest track holds a special place in his heart, "which was the centrepiece of this other record we started first." The song takes its name from the fact that it originally included lyrics inspired by the comic strip "Peanuts," whose protagonist was a young boy named Charlie Brown. It was the first song recorded during sessions for the band's then-upcoming fifth studio album, with the intention of being included on what later became "Mylo Xyloto."
The standout from their headline summer slots sounds even more monumental on record, "Charlie Brown" is one of the best things Coldplay have done. Jonny Buckland's hypnotic guitar lines lead the way, the band channeling The Joshua Tree-era, the heady holler-alongs of Arcade Fire and a teeny bit of Sigur Rós stargazing as the song launches into its adrenaline-veined climax. Whilst the music is wonderfully overblown, Martin keeps the vocals cool and calculated, singing of "taking the car downtown to where the lost boys meet," which might be about nipping to Spar on Hampstead High St, but probably isn't.
"Mylo Xyloto" is a concept album about two characters: Mylo and Xylotomy in a scary, oppressive world. The two protagonists fall in love and this song finds them running away together. Directed by Mat Whitecross and Mark Rowbotham. the newly debuted visual sensation from the album features a young man sauntering through London before meeting up with his girlfriend, and utilized footage from a collection of concerts they had performed the song amongst the crowd at throughout the band's 2011 Summer Festival Tour, after stealing a car and driving downtown to a black-light party.