Coloratura is Coldplay in their most epic medium – a ten-minute powerhouse that is nothing but a pure showcase of talent from the British musicians.

The last thing I expected from Coldplay was a ten-minute epic, that’s for sure. After their newest album, Everyday Life, however, the band proved that nothing is impossible for them. They came back from a slump stronger than ever before, and this song just pushed their sound into the stratosphere.

When you think epic, you can’t help but think of some of the prog giants that made these songs so pleasant and welcome. Though there are definitely Dream Theater influences in this composition (the masterminds behind such songs as Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, forty-two minutes, and Octavarium, twenty-four minutes), it very obviously derivative of Pink Floyd’s classic sound from records such as Wish You Were Here and The Division Bell. The slow grooves, the swooping synths, the gentle piano, all of it is here. The first half of the song is some of the greatest slow-rock made in the last decade, and knowing that there’s more makes it all the more exciting.

A harp bridge swings along, bringing a crowd of synths along with it, bridging the two big portions of this song together. It serves as an intro to an orchestral journey led by glockenspiel and flute, and into a 5/4 section, because of COURSE it needs an odd time signature: it’s a prog song, after all. The song keeps teases a surge in energy a few times until finally bringing back to the chorus, ruled this time by a gorgeous guitar solo. The section that follows is the perfect blend between catchy Coldplay melodies and elegant Pink Floyd instrumentation, led by a soaring chant by vocalist Chris Martin. The energy slowly fades, like dropping a sleeping baby back into their crib as delicately as you can as not to wake it. The piano, accompanied by an acoustic guitar and the laments of Martin, bring the song to a peaceful, and blissful end.

This is honestly one of the finest rock songs recorded. It can seem, on the surface, a bit too similar to its inspirations, but its overall experience from start to finish far supersedes any critic on that front. It is a beautiful track full of passionate movement, emotional chord changes and dynamic peaks and valleys. Coldplay has proven once again that nothing can throw them off their game forever.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.