Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto

As Coldplay opened this year's Saturday night headline slot at Glastonbury with the new album's opener 'Hurts Like Heaven', Chris Martin apologetically quipped, "sorry we're playing a lot of songs you don't know but we hope one day they'll be your favourites." Well Mr Martin, that day has come. 'Mylo Xyloto' is Coldplay's 5th release and sees the band confirm what we all (even the non believers) knew - that they're one of the best bands on the planet right now.

Where they have previously been unashamedly anthemic (as on Fix You and Viva La Vida), MX adds a subtlety to their stadium filling sound. 'Hurts Like Heaven' and 'Charlie Brown' are both stomping tracks, the former a brilliant, up beat opener which sets the bar for the rest of the album. One frantic verse down and Mylo Xyloto is off and running. But don't be tricked by a catchy chorus ("you use your heart as a weapon/and it hurts like heaven") and the first "Woah-oh" group vocal of the album., this isn't quite Coldplay as we know them. The backing keyboard sound Asian, like somebody's hacked into a Sega Megadrive, and behind Chris Martin's voice is an almost auto tuned backing vocal. If you're wondering who might be behind all this trickery, look no further than the master of expansive electronic rock music Brian Eno, who produced and added effects to the album.

Eno's keyboards, synths and other electronic effects are what make this Coldplay album stand out from the rest. 'Paradise''s layered chorus takes a "regular" Coldplay song, for want of a better word, and expands it into something far more spacious. 'Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall' is a brilliant piece of electronic rock, capable of filling floors everywhere from the world's biggest stadia to Ibiza clubs.

As on every Coldplay album there are a couple of acoustic tracks. 'Us Against The World' is a nice preamble to the euro synths of 'Every Teardrop...'. Chris Martin and an acoustic guitar lull you into a sense of security before the single of the year blasts into life. A soaring chorus, excellent guitar riff and those giant synths, matched with Martin's upbeat lyrics makes a wonderful summer anthem and one of Coldplay's best songs (even if I can't keep a straight face when he sings "I'd rather be a comma, than a full stop"... eurgh).

On first look at the tracklisting the song which sticks out most is 'Princess of China' which features Rihanna. Initially you'd think this is just some industry gimmic in order to "shift more units" (apparently that's what the suits call selling records). You can just imagine the call from one industry head to another: "We need a female voice for the new Coldplay album. How about Katy Perry? No? Rihanna?" However the end product is surprisingly good. It sounds more like a Rihanna song than a Coldplay one, but this is a good thing - a female voice is a welcome change at the midway point in the album and Eno's keys lend themselves to the Queen of pop's musical comfort zone.

As Coldplay's Glasto encore came to a close, the giant 'Teardrop...' synths chimed out from the hallowed Pyramid stage and for the first time in the festival's history a band used the actual Pyramid as part of the performance (multi coloured lasers on the sides). You couldn't help but think that, after U2's dissapointing appearance the night before that it was time for the Irishmen to step aside, their 21st century succesors have taken their place as the best band on the planet.