Ghost Stories by Coldplay
Ghost Stories is the sixth studio album by British rock band Coldplay. The album, co-produced by the band with Paul Epworth along with returning Mylo Xyloto producers Daniel Green, and Rik Simpson, was released by Parlophone on 16 May 2014. The album was released by Atlantic Records in North America on 19 May 2014. It is the first full-length release by the band in North America under Atlantic, after Coldplay were transferred from Capitol Records in 2013, following the purchase of EMI and its assets by the Universal Music Group in 2012. Ghost Stories, partly inspired by lead singer Chris Martin's troubled relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow at the time of the album's recording, is a concept album that tells the story of a man going through a dramatic and sudden breakup, with the narrative following the man's various emotional states leading up to his eventual acceptance of the situation. The album revolves around a central theme of "opening yourself up to love", and accepting that love does not last forever. The album was recorded by the band throughout 2012 and 2013 at the band's purpose-built home studios in London, England, and features guest producers Avicii, Timbaland and Madeon, in addition to the band's frequent collaborator, Jon Hopkins. The album is packaged with original etchings by Mila Fürstová, created specifically for the album. The album was heavily promoted by the band and Parlophone in the lead-up to its release, with an accompanying prime time TV special, a visual album and a six-date promotional tour of the album, as well as various appearances on television and radio. The album was further promoted by three singles: "Magic", released in March, "Midnight", released in April, and "A Sky Full of Stars", released in May 2014. In 2011, Coldplay released their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto. Originally conceived by the band as a "stripped-down, more acoustic collection", it became one of Coldplay's most experimental and pop-oriented records to date, being described as "luxuriously colourful" where "the choruses are bigger, the textures grander the optimism more optimistic." Produced by Markus Dravs, Brian Eno, Rik Simpson and Dan Green, the album peaked at #1 on 18 national album charts and certified Platinum in 16 different countries. Mylo Xyloto had also sold 8 million copies within the first year of release. Coldplay's 2011 single, "Paradise", became the band's second UK #1 single after 2008's "Viva la Vida". Coldplay's subsequent world tour in promotion of Mylo Xyloto visited North America, Europe, Australasia and Africa, raising over 100 million in revenue. Going into the creative process for their sixth studio album, the band wanted to return to the "stripped-down, more acoustic collection" they had stated their fifth album would be, returning to the original idea of an acoustic-oriented album, with less of the production and sound that made Mylo Xyloto.
It was halfway through the tour to support 2011’s <i>Mylo Xyloto</i> that someone pointed Chris Martin in the direction of <i>The Guest House</i>, a poem by the 13th- century mystic Rumi. Its concept—that whatever is happening to you in life, if you sit with it, somehow a blessing will reveal itself—chimed with Martin as he struggled to find a way through tough times. It sparked a whole new way of thinking for him and resulted in <i>Ghost Stories</i>, Coldplay’s most cathartic and intimate record. Written and recorded as Martin navigated his way through a separation from wife Gwyneth Paltrow—or, as they put it, a “conscious uncoupling”—and the aftermath, everything about <i>Ghost Stories</i> felt like a deviation from what had come to be defined as standard practice on a Coldplay album. Bar a few one-off shows, there was no accompanying tour and so no ecstatic stadium sing-alongs—plus there were no big anthems to sing along with, anyway (well, almost). The thinking went that, as these songs were dealing with such personal issues, it felt natural to make <i>Ghost Stories</i> a more intimate and quiet record. In that sense, it presented an intriguing, inside-out version of the band who had become masters of music as a communal, jubilant experience. Recorded mostly at the band’s own studios in North London, it showed that Coldplay could still astonish even when stripped of all the bells and whistles. The mournful, slow-motion glide of “Always in My Head” set the tone for the record’s considered vibe but, musically, there was still a compelling restlessness at work: new flavours on the folktronica groove of “Ink”, “Midnight”’s ambient soundscapes and the minimalist soul of “Magic”. Even on more familiar ground, there was a poignancy at play—the solemn acoustic strums of “Oceans” sound like Chris Martin trying to reach out to his younger, <i>Parachutes</i>-era self to ask him what the hell happened. Because they like to keep people on their toes, right in the middle of all this pensive brooding is “A Sky Full of Stars”, an out-and-out piano-rave banger that they made with late superstar DJ Avicii. It was a record that emotionally cleared the decks for Martin and Coldplay and they jumped straight into their next album, 2015’s <i>A Head Full of Dreams</i>, without taking a break. <i>Ghost Stories</i> was the pit stop that allowed them to take stock and work out where to go next.
