My Coldplay.com

By SHERRI WOOD, Sun Media

British pop-rockers Coldplay sure aim high.

It’s one thing for some critics to rank them among the world’s greatest bands, or tout them as the “new U2.”

It’s quite another for group members themselves to say U2 is “the band for Coldplay to beat,”or admit to at least trying to write pop-rock songs in the league of the Beatles.

With their highly anticipated new album X&Y hitting stores a week from Tuesday, frontman Chris Martin knows Coldplay could be setting themselves up for a big fall –and a lot of heat.

“I think this is dangerous talk,” Martin said during an interview in Toronto a couple of weeks ago.

“This is probably going to come back and haunt us, because we’ve said this thing about U2, and really what we mean is that there’s no point in aiming lower than the best.

“You reach a point where you realize that fame and fortune aren’t the answer, and so you think the only point in carrying on is if you’re going to try to make music that will compete with your favourite music. We know we’re never going to be the Beatles, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to stop trying.”

X&Y, their latest attempt to become the greatest band of all time, took them a prolonged 18 months to record.

Given the anticipation after the success of their first two albums (the group has sold more than 16 million CDs worldwide, garnering four Grammys and four Brit Awards along the way), it’s no wonder they’re being asked, “What took so long?”

“What took us so long is the fact that an album for us is not only everything we care about, and what we love to do and the sort of escapist vehicle for all our thoughts and musical fantasies,”Martin said, “but it’s also the thing that dictates whether or not we can maintain this ridiculously incredible job we have.

“If we don’t make the best possible album, we run the risk of not being able to play music together anymore, so it’s a survival instinct, really. We wanted to make sure we were really proud of it before we came out with it.”

It’s unlikely the album won’t be well received. All the much-loved standard Coldplay sound is there — it’s raw, emotional, and universal and Martin still sings about love and life.

Electronic elements, acoustic folky additions and an overall fuller feel hint at the band’s efforts to make an album with a huge sound.

“When you first listen to an album like (U2’s) The Joshua Tree, it’s so big sounding that you can’t believe it — and it’s so all-encompassing that you can’t listen to anything else for a week,” guitarist Jonny Buckland said. “We want to create that same feeling for somebody.”

Surely they know they already have?

“Well, we know that it happened on A Rush Of Blood To The Head, and possibly on Parachutes, but we don’t know that it’s going to happen with X&Y,” the 28-year-old Martin said.

About the new album, Martin said he “definitely (doesn’t) think it’s s–t,” but doesn’t see the signature Coldplay sound as completely their own.

“I’ve never really thought we had our own sound. I just thought it was a mix of other people’s,” Martin said. “I think the only thing that sets us apart is a bit more piano. I think Clocks is kind of our own, and The Scientist. But then again, The Scientist is a blatant ripoff of a John Lennon sound, just gone wrong.

“No one really gave us credit for having our own sound until apparently other people started sounding like us.”

With copycat bands such as Athlete and Snow Patrol popping up into the mainstream, what used to be called “sounds like Radiohead” now means “sounds like Coldplay.” That really means Coldplay is now one of the most familiar names in music — and are simply getting bigger by the minute.

The recent three-day publicity blitz in Toronto saw the band visit Much-Music and 102.1 The Edge (each appearance drawing sizeable crowds) and was capped with their only Canadian pre-album “buzz gig” at the Kool Haus, a notably smaller-than-Coldplay venue.

The show sold out in one minute.

“I love and am proud of every single person that comes to our concert and I love playing for people that are really f—ing brilliantly cool,” a beaming Martin said.

“I imagine it’s strange being in a boy band and not really liking your audience, but I love our audience. I look out into the crowd and think, ‘God, these are people that I would just like to hang out with all the time,’ which I’ve never really said before in an interview, but now that I think about it, I’m always excited to meet people at a Coldplay concert.”

It’s a bit of a paradox coming from someone known to be uncomfortable in the public eye. His recent high-profile marriage to Gwyneth Paltrow and the much-publicized arrival of their daughter Apple has left Martin a choice tabloid target.

“But I can tell the difference between someone who is a Coldplay fan and someone who just wants me to tell them something about Shakespeare In Love or me and Gwyneth,” Martin said. “I can tell the difference between that person and someone who is genuinely interested. You can very quickly work out what someone’s about.”

While in Toronto, Martin admits to having a “pretty f—ing amazing” time and concedes to being shocked by the crowds and response to their visit.

“I think we sort of forgot that anybody liked us until we came here. We love Canadians … it sounds patronizing, but this is no bull—t. We actually do.”

Judging by the booming, similar sentiments offered by Buckland, Coldplay and Canada have a unique bond.

“We owe a lot to Canadians,” Martin said. “The fact is, the first label we were on, to whom we owe an awful lot, was Canadian. Our manager Dave, who is part of our core group, is Canadian. Our favourite new band (Arcade Fire) is Canadian. The guy we tried to rip off (Neil Young) when we wrote Yellow is Canadian, too. We really do owe a lot to Canadians.”

According to Buckland and Martin, the band decided very early on not to talk about things they don’t like.

“We don’t want to be a dissing band,” Martin said. “Occasionally I slipped into Bush bashing, but it was a waste of time. We like to talk about positive things — like fair trade.”

Much like other well-known, socially conscious musicians, Martin invests a significant amount of time in altruistic endeavors, mainly fair trade projects in developing countries such as Ghana, Haiti and Mexico (you’ll often see the singer sporting the fair trade symbol penned on his hand).

“I’m not actually sure we can make a difference, but I feel like it’s your duty to talk about things you’re into,” Martin said. “We’ve learned a lot about fair trade and unfair trade, and we know that it’s the principal cause of poverty and, therefore, things like terrorism and destruction of the environment. If you fix this, then the state of the world will be significantly improved. It’s common sense, and that’s why we talk about it all the time.”

Although it hasn’t been announced yet, and tickets aren’t yet on sale, Coldplay will kick off their summer North American tour — where else? — in Toronto on Aug. 2, according to USA Today.

Considering all his Coldplay demands, activist trips to developing nations, marriage and the new Apple of his eye, it’s hard to believe Martin is as cheerful and lively as he seems, with none of the usual signs of rock-star burnout.

“I occasionally burn out, but never for a lack of love for what I’m doing,” Martin said. “You’d think all these interviews and everything else could be construed as long days, but it’s just part of our job, and I love our job. So it’s a real pleasure. Honestly, we absolutely f—ing love it all.”

Even there, Martin sounds like Bono.

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2008/03/25/5095286.html