Coldplay- Christmas Lights

         I’ve covered a few new Christmas songs lately, so I might as well write about a few of mypersonal all-time favorite ones as well. One of them hands down has to be Coldplay’s Christmas Lights.

         I’m glad Coldplay decided to release their holiday cut at the time when their music was still good. All their material this decade has been pretty mediocre, Everyday Life being the only exception. Christmas Lights feels more like an extinction of their Viva La Vida era, both in style and the esthetic of the music video, which by the way is nearly as atmospheric and impressive as the song itself. The band isn’t really  breaking any new grounds here- it’s lead by a beautiful piano melody, the verses are a little understated in order to make room for a catchy, grand refrain you just want to sing along to. Chris Martin delivers a very emotional performance, his vocal are on point as usual. The track follows a typical formula for Coldplay, only this time it’s in a Christmas setting and every element works perfectly, like it did on best moments from Viva La Vida. Despite all the criticism Coldplay usually receives you can’t argue that even if the song is bad, they know how to create a vibe (Ghost Stories being a perfect example of that). So it’s no surprise that they Christmas song is overflowing with holiday spirit without even having to rely too rely that much on instrumentation usually associated with that kind of music.

       I’m very thankful for that track and for the fact that it was released during Coldplay’s creative peak. Despite their latest record being a slight improvement from their previous projects I don’t think the band would be able to create a track like this at this point.  It’s a perfect listen for a cold, winter evening and I find myself going back to it every December.