It's the end of the week, and I want to send everyone off into the weekend with the best vibes possible. As a result, the Daily Music Picks newsletter features a weekly segment called Fun Song Fridays! Regardless of era, genre, or style, the criterion is simple: it must deliver the joy and excitement we all need in our lives.
You can access the entire Fun Song Fridays archive here. A playlist featuring the songs covered with this segment is coming soon!
Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s music pick is a synth-pop hit from one of the world’s most divisive “love ‘em or hate ‘em” groups.
Genre: Pop, Synth-Pop
Label: Parlophone
Release Date: May 6, 2021
Vibe: ✨✨
According to lead singer Chris Martin, the demo for what became “Higher Power” struck him like a bolt of lightning. “I came up with the title first, but struggled to find the melody and lyrics to go with it,” he told BBC News. “Then one day I was staying in this place and the sink was very resonant. And so I started hitting the sink [to make] this beat... and then I went to the piano keyboard, and the song just landed in one go.” The happy accident metaphor extended to the cautious optimism that colored the word-of-mouth buzz when this track dropped during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The consensus seemed to be, “Wait, Coldplay has a new song and it’s actually good?”
Their loyal fan base may scoff at this, but, in reality, the band’s release for much of the 2010s favored high-powered pop-dance collaborations over anything resembling the melodic indie-rock they hitched their wagons to initially. The fact that the Chainsmokers-assisted snoozer "Something Just Like This” is still the group’s biggest commercial success should tell you all you need to know about where they were (and probably still are) in the mainstream firmament. However, “Higher Power” feels different. It’s brighter, looser, and, on the surface, less try-hard-y than much of their previous work. It’s simply existing, which belies just how precise and knowing the craft and execution are.
At least some of that credit belongs to Max Martin, who had somehow never collaborated with Coldplay until this point. He helps the group pivot away from the darker, moodier soundscapes they’d be leaning towards prior to “Higher Power,” instead favoring the radiant synths, punchy bassline, and soaring harmonic layering on the chorus. It all adds up to a euphoric listening experience, recapturing the technicolor energy present at every turn on Mylo Xyloto. Haters may point to the simplistic songwriting or the cliched, arena-ready chants, but I’d argue it’s part of the charm here, especially considering the headspace most consumers (including myself) were in circa May 2021.
Once the last refrain hit its stride, I noticed, maybe for the first time ever in my history hearing Coldplay’s music, I had goosebumps up and down my entire arms. That sensation, in a nutshell, is why we listen to sonic vibrations in the first place.
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈