Albums in two parts are currently in vogue for a certain strand of arena-level British bands – notably The 1975 and Foals. So how, as one of the biggest bands in the world, do you return after several years away with a double album and still stand apart from those who have already beaten you to the twin-release punch?
That’s the challenge Coldplay are facing. Unlike the other acts mentioned above, their entire double album, Everyday Life, is actually coming out on 22nd November, so there is no lag between the release of the two conceptual sides (Sunrise and Sunset). In that sense, its release, both structurally and thematically, echoes that of Kate Bush’s Aerial in 2005 where it was split between A Sea Of Honey and A Sky Of Honey.
Given their last album, A Head Full Of Dreams, came out in 2015 and the album before that, Ghost Stories, came out in 2014, they have a lot of ground to make up because four years away is a lifetime in the streaming age.
The first phase to announce their return was an extremely localised and cryptic teaser campaign that was conceived to go global. By taking out classified ads in a number of small regional newspapers and key national titles, the emphasis on print media intentionally stood in sharp contrast to the social media rampage they knew would ensue as soon as people twigged what was going on.
These ads rans in local papers in north Wales and Devon as well as the Sydney Morning Herald, the Otago Daily Times (New Zealand) and Le Monde (France). The ad read “Everyday Life by Coldplay”, gave the tracklisting and a release date, as well as adding a half moon symbol and a sun symbol to hint at the themes of the album. There were also print posters with teaser messages put up in various locations around the world.
In keeping with the old-school print theme, the band sent autographed cards (with the sun and moon symbol) to select fans to inform them that a new album – one they had been working on “for the last 100 years or thereabouts” – was coming and that they were no longer in “hibernation”. Inevitably shots of the cards were shared on social media by the recipients and then spread like wildfire.
To shift that part of the campaign driven by the band (rather than the fans) into the digital realm, they switched the Canvas effect for a number of tracks on Spotify to have looping Pathé-style black and white clips that echo the album sleeve creative. They also backdated a post on their Facebook page to 22nd November 1919 (which fans twigged was the date of a solar eclipse) and added a countdown clock to their official site.
They have also announced two shows on the day of the album release in Jordan – with the first planned for 4am GMT (sunrise in Jordan) and 2pm GMT (sunset in Jordan). The shows will be streamed live as part of YouTube Originals.
Fans are also being asked to submit their own videos to be used during the live stream. The whole thing was announced with a YouTube video of the band hosting a fake and self-effacing press conference, supposedly from Jordan, where actors Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein (from TV show Portlandia) posed as journalists asking ludicrous questions, with the rest of the media audience made up of giant stuffed animals and life-size cutouts of people like Marilyn Monroe, Shakespeare, Justin Bieber and the Queen.
This blending of old media, new media, social media and fake media is all done with a raised eyebrow that gently mocks the po-faced and careerist perception some might have of the band. More bands need to use their big comeback to mock themselves
