Prospekts March review

As I mentioned a few days ago, I have recently purchased Coldplay's new EP, Prospekts March. The EP is essentially an extension of the Viva La Vida album that they released earlier in the year. The band's press people say that the EP's material includes tracks that Coldplay had not recorded in time for Viva La Vida's release date, hence the release of this EP. The more cynical side of me leads me to believe that releasing this EP so close to Christmas has something to do with record company executives hearing the sound of ringing cash registers (do you get those any more?) in their ears. The parallels between Viva La Vida and Prospekts March do not just begin and end with the identical album sleeve covers, but in terms of the music too.

The EP consists of eight tracks in total, although of the eight, two of the tracks, Lovers In Japan and Lost feature on Viva La Vida, while track 2 entitled Postcards From Far Away at just 48 seconds long, is essentially an interlude.

So let's start at the beginning. The first track is called Life In Technicolor II. If you are wondering what happened to Life In Technicolor I, this was track 1 on Coldplay's Viva La Vida album and was an instrumental track which contained the background music to Life In Technicolor II as part of that composition. Whatever the reason for this track appearing at this time, you would like to think that it was not an after thought as it is a fantastic track. It sounds like an iconic Coldplay track which should transfer well to a live audience and because of its radio friendly manner, it has to be a strong candidate to be Coldplay's next single. It can sometimes be a cliche when Coldplay are compared to U2, but on listening to the construction of this track and Chris Martin's vocals, there are certainly noticeable parallels to be drawn with U2's work, particularly from around U2's Joshua Tree period. These parallels are not confined to this track, as I will elaborate on later. This is the stand out song on the EP and I think in time it will be established as one of Coldplay's signature tracks.

The next track is Postcards From Far Away, which as I have mentioned, is just a short piano instrumental. This sounds like the kind of gentle sound to have on in the background when you are chilling out after a hard day at work or after a long run to help you drop off to sleep. Apart from that, it is safe to say that this is not one of the major highlights of the EP. Maybe if the piano solo was longer, it would stand out more as a masterpiece of its type.

Next up comes a rather up tempo sounding Glass Of Water. In many ways this is something the black sheep of the EP. It is a rockier, more energising track than the majority of the tracks on the album and whereas I would say some of the tracks borrow from U2, this sounds more like it is paying homage to the likes of Ash, Embrace or maybe even Muse. It is a rousing track with a fast tempo which you can see being a good track to play early on in a live set in order to get the crowd buzzing.

Track 4 is called Rainy Day and this has a more gentle beat to it. I have been trying to put my finger on what influences have been drawn upon with this track. The track has a poppier, more chilled out, feelgood factor about it and particularly makes use of strings. Some of the mellower parts of the track are the kind of thing that Portishead would have released in their heyday and it also reminds me a bit of a band called Kings Of Convenience who released an album called Riots On An Empty Street a couple of years ago which was full of clever lyrics put to harmonies. Whatever influences Coldplay actually did draw upon, this is a pleasant and mellow song.

Next up comes two tracks for the price of one. This is something that Coldplay did on Viva La Vida where they merged Lovers In Japan into one track with Reign Of Love and which Green Day previously did on their American Idiot album. The first of the two tracks is the title track Prospekts March (not sure why this has been spelt in this way). This is a gentle, vocal based track which would work well in an audience setting where it could be played on acoustic guitar. Again, I can see some similarities with U2 and Joshua Tree which contains a couple of mellow album tracks of this ilk. The second part of the track is called Poppyfields and this is just a 30 second instrumental which does not seem out of place with the track that went before.

Track six is Lost! which has recently been released as a single with three different versions. This track originally featured on Viva La Vida and its original version was among the best tracks on the album. The only difference between the Viva La Vida version and the incarnation on Prospekts March is that it contains Jay-Z does some rapping in the middle part of the song, as indeed he does on one of the versions on the single. This is the only difference between the original version and this version, so whether you like it will depend on whether you appreciate rap music. Personally, as I have generally always held the opinion that rap contains a silent C at the beginning of the word, I do not feel that Jay-Z's contribution adds anything to the song, especially as the track does not differ in any other way from the original.

The next track is Lovers In Japan which the sleeve notes say is the Osaka Sun mix. Not quite sure what the significance of this is because this track was also on Viva La Vida and having played it a few times, it is identical to the track on Viva La Vida, except that it is a standalone track this time around rather than part of a double track. If you think I am about to criticise the track, however, you would be much mistaken. I think it is a great track, and I think it is all the better for being a track on its own. Of all the tracks on the album, I think this one borrows most heavily from U2 and I don't think that is a bad thing. In the same way that The Beatles have always been the template to Oasis's music (although certainly far from being their only influence), then I think U2's political, double edged meaning songs and Bono's vocals have long formed the influential template to Coldplay's songwriting and musical performance. Listening carefully to this song and there is definitely a hint of With Or Without You and Where The Streets Have No Name in the background beat to this track. The track combines piano and guitar and Martin's vocals are at their most powerful. If Life In Technicolor II is not Coldplay's next single, then this should be.

The final track of the EP is called Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground. This is an interesting song title given that a very similar lyric also features in Life In Technicolor II. In some ways I was expecting fireworks with this track and I thought it would tie in with the mood of much of the EP and of Viva La Vida, being quite dark and having a theme around protestation. Yet for all that, it is actually quite a typical final track of an album, in fact it almost feels like a bonus track because it is a just a gentle acoustic guitar track which lasts for two and a half minutes which by the end sounds like it would make a good theme tune for Last Of The Summer Wine. It is a pleasant enough track but I somehow was expecting more from the last track of the album.

All in all, I am not entirely sure of the reasons for being for this EP if it is not just a commercial exercise, which given that the band have always been major opponents of corporate culture would seem hypocritical. That is not to say that there are not good tracks on the EP, far from it. But I see this album as an extension of Viva La Vida, which I suppose in a way, it is. Tracks like Life In Technicolor II and Glass Of Water could very easily have been on the original album, while Lovers In Japan was on the original album but sounds all the better for being an independent track.

The EP very much expands on the themes and influences that were prevalent on Viva La Vida. That album particularly focused on the subjects of protesting, injustice and religion. These overtones do seem to feature on Prospekts March as well and I think is where Coldplay have particularly been influenced by U2. Their sound as I have mentioned is not dissimilar to U2's Joshua Tree period on a few of the tracks here and given that this was one of U2's most political records, it is not unfair to draw the conclusion that they have drawn from the U2 of that era. The other thing is that Joshua Tree was the album that cracked America for the Irishmen and Coldplay are now at the stage where they have global exposure. Tracks like Violet Hill, 42 and Viva La Vida will translate well to an American audience, even if not all Americans will appreciate Violet Hill's anti-war message. Of the tracks on this EP, Life In Technicolor II and Lovers In Japan at least should be received well by the record buying public over the pond.

If you are a fan of Coldplay, then I would say go and buy the EP as there are enough tracks on the album to keep you captivated and the way the EP is structured will be of interest. For those people who are more casual Coldplay fans, or who perhaps just like the odd song by them or regard them as a "singles" band, my advice to you would be not to go out and get the EP but to download the best songs that feature and stick them on your iTunes. Life In Technicolor II is definitely the standout track, but Lovers In Japan, Glass Of Water and Rainy Day are all fine tracks in their own right and those that like a good piano solo will no doubt admire Postcards From Far Away, although perhaps it needed to be a bit longer.