Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories is an album that, metaphorically speaking, just mopes about the place in its dressing gown, too sorry for itself to do or say much.

Mostly ... this is music that keeps its head down. Martin accepts his loss too meekly to approach the anguish of a great break-up album. A step away from grand platitudes is still one in the right direction.

Although the results are more hazy blue than golden, Coldplay’s sixth album sounds like the work of a man meditating on things.

Ghost Stories isn’t the return to basics the band hinted at during interviews, nor does it need to be.

If ghost stories are intended to be an enjoyable diversion before bed time, they’ve succeeded. If you’re looking for an adrenaline rush or big reveal, however, this is probably not the place to find it.

You can feel the thought and polish that has gone into everything, and though Ghost Stories is almost unprecedentedly pared down and shorn of ego for a sixth album by an act of this stature, the music never has the ragged quality to put it in sync with Martin's voice. 

It has brief sparks of a fresh creativity and has plenty of potential, but doesn't take steps bold enough to totally reinvent itself, making for a record littered with moments that let it sink into the forgettable parts of the band's catalogue.

But you do get a short and sweet nine-track exorcism of demons and one crushed dude who knows how to pen some beautiful, infectious ballads.

While there are moments in which Coldplay take some interesting steps forward on Ghost Stories, there are a few moments when the band rests a little too heavily on easy listening or pop music clichés. 

‘Ghost Stories’ is the sound of Coldplay finally coming to terms with who they are - a universally loved, often loathed, slightly cheesy outfit. 

Even though it’s not Coldplay’s strongest, Ghost Stories should be applauded for scaling back the gaudy excesses of their previous albums. 

Overall, Coldplay’s decision to drop back a couple of gears does not serve them well, especially given the fact that the quality of Martin’s lyrics rarely rise above the serviceable. 

For an album that aims to explore the most emotional time in Martin’s life, Ghost Stories stands as Coldplay’s most distancing effort to date.

It’s a better album than 2011’s huge, hollow Mylo Xyloto, but it’s clear that Martin prefers plucky survival to soulful self-examination.

Don’t listen to me, I’m down in the dumps from listening to this album 18 times. Maybe I’m cynical because I haven’t broken up with someone in years and yearn to write a sad song about them.

Ghost Stories is unmistakably Coldplay's "breakup album," a subdued work that finds Martin and his band crisply moping through mid-tempo soundscapes and fuzzy electronic touches that have the visceral impact of a down comforter tumbling down a flight of stairs.

Coldplay's Ghost Stories is their dreamiest, most serene effort thus far.

As it is, these ghost stories pack few chills.

We all love to revel in a real tearjerker, but these whiney odes are heartbreak songs minus the heart.

From moments that recall Bon Iver to others which summon the aesthetic of previous producer Brian Eno but stop short of his spirit, Martin’s morose men have rarely been so invisible on their own material.

Weighing in at a scant 40 minutes, the tone of ‘Ghost Stories’ is electronic and plodding, not guitary and surging. Forget the idea of Coldplay writing for stadiums – this is the sound of a band restraining themselves and desperately holding it in.

Coldplay were at their best when they were still writing songs for themselves, not meeting expectations. And while Ghost Stories revolves around the inward, personal aesthetic of Martin’s relationship status, the final product feels crafted out of obligation, not passion.

Despite all the emotional gravitas and metaphysical significance Coldplay wishes to impart with this album, the tunes are too flat to hit home at their best and perilously teetering over the edge of plagiarism at their worst.

Even by Coldplay’s peerless standards then, this is a dull, lifeless record, its brevity (9 tracks) its only positive quality.