Riding on the success of their recent album ‘Viva La Vida’, Coldplay release some more material from the album sessions. You get five new track, two of which are worth a listen even for non-fans.

Now, I’m not a big Coldplay fan at the best of times and ‘Viva La Vida’ is just too pompous for my taste. So it comes as a nice surprise that the session outtakes collected on this EP or mini-album contain the most stripped down and straightforward Coldplay song in yonks: ‘Now My Feet Won’t Touch The Ground’.

This is a laidback, folky number that almost has a touch of Americana about it. ‘Now My Feet’ comes straight to the point, it’s all over in 2:27 minutes, and boasts a strong melody with no distractions. There’s another hint of Folk on the title track ‘Prospekt’s March/Poppy Fields’, but that song is too fussy compared to the simplicity of ‘Now My Feet’.

The other surprise for me is ‘Glass Of Water’. Is that Coldplay covering Sigur Ros? No, but its Coldplay coming very close to the intensity of Iceland’s post Rock outfit. It’s Coldplay finally crossing the line and making the step that puts them beyond pompous into that operatic, Wagnerian territory than Sigur Ros roam in. In other words, it’s Coldplay pulling out all the stops and sounding better for it.

Have a listen for yourself below.

There are two more new tracks on the EP. Well, one full song, ‘Rainy Day’, and a 48 seconds piano tinkle called ‘Postcards From Far Away’.

In addition to the new material you get three remakes of album tracks. ‘Lost+’ is another spin on
the double whammy of ‘Lost!’, the loud one, and ‘Lost?’, the quiet one - Both highlights on ‘Viva La Vida’ for me. The new version features rapper Jay-Z but doesn’t really add much, ending up as ‘Lost+’, the inbetween one.

To my ears, the versions of ‘Life In Technicolor’ and ‘Lovers In Japan’ on this EP show no great improvements or even just deviations from the album tracks.

If you haven’t got ‘Viva La Vida’ yet, you can get a new version of the album that includes the EP tracks. If you have the album already, you’re snookered. You’ll pay almost as much for the EP as what the album costs in the shops these days.

I suggest you download ‘Now My Feet Won’t Touch The Ground’ and ‘Glass Of Water’.

We say:

You can download ‘Prospekt’s March’ here from iTunes UK. Alternatively you can download Coldplay’s album ‘Viva La Vida’ plus ‘Prospekt’s March’ here

US Readers - Buy ‘Prospekt’s March’ On CD Here!
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UK And Ireland Readers - Buy ‘Prospekt’s March’ On Cd Here!
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