"SIGNAL FOUND. EXTRATERRESTRIAL COMMS ESTABLISHED" came the announcement on May 5th via Coldplay's Twitter feed ahead of the release of their new single, 'Higher Power'. "Higher Power is out now. Merci @Thom_astro for the intergalactic premiere, love c, g, w & j" followed two days later as Coldplay premiered their latest track and "Official Audio // Extraterrestrial Transmission" video. The first person to see and hear Coldplay's new song and video was French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, @Thom_astro, who was aboard the International Space Station when he listened to the track.
Chris Martin said, "The song is about trying to find the astronaut in all of us, the person that can do amazing things." He also explained that, "'Higher Power,' had been around for a while. If you go on my phone, there's like 15 abandoned Higher Powers that aren't that good."
'Higher Power' is Coldplay's first release this year and it is also the band's lead track from their up coming ninth album, thought to be due out this summer. The new record, a follow up to 2019's number one double album 'Everyday Life', has been teased by the band, via alienradio.fm., and promoters on and off all year with varying titles being suggested, including 'Music Of The Spheres'.
'Higher Power' is a spacey, percussively lead, bouncy synth-pop number that has an infectious exuberance which is hard to resist. The retro leaning Max Martin (Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Maroon 5, Taylor Swift etc) produced track sees Coldplay in their poppiest guise for some time as they deliver yet another anthemic, sing-a-long tune that will no doubt be buzzing around every radio station like an excitable child.
The video, shot on a damp day in front of some shipping containers, also has some very well choreographed holographic aliens to help lift the shoot and deliver some added action. What with alienradio.fm, the use of the International Space Station, dancing aliens and 'Music Of The Spheres' being suggested as a working title for Coldplay's next album, it's all pointing to an other worldly concoction.