Coloratura

"Coloratura"
General information
Artist	Coldplay
Released	23 July 2021
Genre	Progressive rock Space rock Soft rock
Length	10:17 (album) 10:18 (promotional single)
Labels
Songwriter(s)	Guy Berryman Jonny Buckland Will Champion Chris Martin Max Martin John Metcalfe Paris Strother Davide Rossi
Producer(s)	Max Martin Oscar Holter Bill Rahko
Album	Music of the Spheres
Music of the Spheres track listing
"Infinity Sign"
"Coloratura"

"Coloratura" is a song by Coldplay from their ninth studio album, Music of the Spheres. It is the twelfth and final track on the album and was released as its first promotional single on 23 July 2021, accompanied by an official lyric video. It is currently the longest original song ever released by the band, running at 10 minutes and 18 seconds. On the concept of the record, the track represents Coloratura, the twelfth celestial object on the The Spheres solar system.

"Coloratura" received widespread critical acclaim, largely for its lengthy, unconventional structure, production and experimentation. A live studio version of the song was released on Coldplay's fifteenth EP, Infinity Station Sessions.

Background and composition

In a handwritten note shared on the band's social media upon the announcement of Music of the Spheres, Chris Martin revealed "Coloratura" would be released as an album track on 23 July, while the next official single, "My Universe", would be released in September 2021. Making a comment about the song on Twitter on the release date, Phil Harvey stated, “When Chris played me the full demo I thought he'd gone mad but as usual it turns out he's a genius and I'm an idiot. Then Jonny did the guitar solo, Guy did that lovely bass waterfall thing and Will gave it a cosmic groove.”

The song was written by all band members, album producer Max Martin and R&B vocal girl group member Paris Strother (also featured on the album track "Human Heart"). The string sessions were held by Davide Rossi and John Metcalfe, both longtime collaborators of the band. Described as a space epic, "Coloratura" serves as the closer track for Music of the Spheres. Keeping with the album's interstellar theme, the song is a 10-and-a-half-minute piano-led anthem featuring “bold and bright piano notes fill[ing] the soundscape at large, with a warm bassline and soulful electric guitars padding out the mix.”

Live performances

"Coloratura" was first performed live on 14 September 2021 on iHeartRadio Album Release Party to commemorate the release of Music of the Spheres in the following month. On 22 September, exclusively for the American radio programme The Howard Stern Show, the song's performance at the Apollo Theater was broadcasted through SiriusXM for the first time.

Although "Coloratura" served as the closing track for the Music of the Spheres promotional concerts, the song was removed from the setlist during the Latin America leg of the Music of the Spheres World Tour after being performed in full on the opening show in Costa Rica. Regarding the decision, Chris has stated the song is “too long” to be played in stadiums, although he did not rule out the possibility of performing it in smaller venues. Due to the attendees' outrage caused by this decision, a shortened version of the song was occasionally performed in some subsequent shows.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Coloratura
We fell in through the clouds
And everyone before us is there welcoming us now
It's the end of death and doubt
And loneliness is out

[Verse 2]
Coloratura
The place we dreamed about
The melodies inside yourself and love come pouring out
And everyone's allowed
We're feathered by the crowd

[Chorus]
And up there in the heavеns
Galileo and those pining for the moon
Know it's a slow burn
Through Pioneer and Hеlix
Oumuamua, Heliopause and Neptune
We're a slow burning tune
But we'll get there, so for now

[Refrain]
In this crazy world, I do
I just want you

[Verse 3]
In the end it's all about
The love you're sending out

[Chorus]
And up there in the heavens
The explorers who've all gathered by balloon
Saw the world turn
Through Voyager, Callisto, Calliope, Betelgeuse, the Neon Moons
We're a slow burning tune
But we'll touch down soon, so will you

[Refrain]
And in this crazy world, I do
I just want you

[Chorus ]
And up there in the heavens
Galileo saw reflections of us too
Pluribus unum, unus mundus
All the satellites imbue
The purple, yellow, green, red, orange and the blue
Oh it's a crazy world, it's true
Yeah, sing it out
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh

[Refrain]
And in this crazy world, I do
I just want
In this crazy world, it's true
I just want you

[Outro]
Poets prophesy up in the blue
Together, that's how we'll make it through

Lyric video

The official lyric video for the song takes a panoramic voyage into the fictional planetary nebula Coloratura. It was directed by Pilar Zeta while its animation was held by Victor Scorrano.

Coldplay - Coloratura (Official Lyric Video)

Official audio

Coloratura

Critical reception

Matt Doria from NME praised the track for “echoing the rhapsodic prog-rock vibes of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon” and also noted how it marks “an ambitious step into uncharted territory for Coldplay, though not eschewing too far from [their] standard fare”. Writing for Rolling Stone, Daniel Kreps described the song as a “multi-suite voyage into the cosmos, with Chris Martin namechecking celestial bodies [...] along his journey to the stars”. Ahad Sanwari from V magazine mentioned that “only Coldplay, in this day and age, would think 'let's make a track that's over ten minutes long', and still, somehow [...] be able to pull it off”. He also praised the band by noting that “[they] clearly mastered the art of creating a specific atmosphere and mood throughout their music”.