It was only a week ago when Coldplay announced, via Twitter, that “the band are back in the studio for a couple of weeks with Brian Eno.” They left out one interesting detail, however: their singer has been asked to sit out.
In a letter to the band, music legend Brian Eno told Coldplay “‘Viva La Vida…’ was good. But I know that you can do better.” The first step for doing better is apparently working without Chris Martin for their first experimental sessions, Gigwise reports.
Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland gave a few hints in an exclusive interview posted on the band’s website, saying “No hypnotism this time [while recording]. We’re using a few less oblique strategies, but they’re strategies all the same.”
It isn’t surprising that Eno might prefer to work from an instrumental perspective before incorporating vocals into Coldplay’s new songs. He first made a name for himself in the rock world for his groundbreaking synthesizer work with Roxy Music in the early 1970s. When he quit the band he moved into the realm of ambient music, experimenting with tape delays, strings, and percussion instruments. Eno is now known as one of the most inventive producers (certainly from an instrumental standpoint).
For a hilarious 1979 interview with Brian Eno by Lester Bangs, click here.