Safety E.P. is the first extended play and public release by Coldplay. It was released on 25 May 1998 and recorded over a weekend during early May 1998, intended to be a demo for record companies. Phil Harvey, the band's manager at the time, financed the project for around £1500 and only about fifty copies made it to stores for sale to the general public, as they gave most of them away to record companies, friends and relatives.[1]
The tracks on the EP have all appeared unaltered on subsequent releases by Coldplay; "Bigger Stronger" and "Such a Rush" are featured on The Blue Room E.P., and "No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground" is a B-Side on the single release of "Yellow".[2]
Production and recording[]
Safety E.P. was produced by Coldplay and British producer Nikki Rosetti. Two recording sessions were held on Rosetti's studios, Sync City, and all songs that were worked on had already been written before the recording began; all takes were majorly recorded live, while overdubs, vocal harmonies and keyboard melodies were being added on. As Chris Martin tended to apply a reverb effect to each recorded track, Rosetti revealed in an interview, “I was not happy with the amount of reverb swamping everything and subsequently re-mixed all the session tracks. They now sound like completely different songs, the sound is fatter, warmer and more intimate and Chris's voice sounds twenty times better than the original, having taken the reverb off.”[3]
Composition[]
Of the nine songs recorded during the Safety sessions, only three made the EP: "Bigger Stronger", "No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground", and "Such a Rush". "Brothers & Sisters" would be released the following year through Fierce Panda Records as the band's debut single; "High Speed" would later be reworked by producer Chris Allison for The Blue Room E.P. and their debut studio album Parachutes, and parts of "Panic" went on to become eventually "Don't Panic", also included on The Blue Room and Parachutes. "Ode to Deodorant", "If All Else Fails", and "Vitamins" were discarded and not included in any official releases.[3]
Cover and title[]
The EP's cover art features a blurred photograph of lead singer Chris Martin at the stage in a gig at the Laurel Tree, London, which is the place where the band used to play during their early shows. The photo was taken by John Hilton, a friend of the band. He also designed the cover art for their debut single "Brothers & Sisters" a few months later.[4]
In an interview, Hilton revealed the title of the EP came from the picture itself, saying, “The Safety bit actually came from the little bit of writing on the top of the camera film. I just dropped the negative down and it came out on the print. [The band] were happy just to leave it there.”[4]
Track listing[]
All tracks written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bigger Stronger" | 4:49 |
| 2. | "No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground" | 4:31 |
| 3. | "Such a Rush" | 4:57 |
References[]
- ↑ Origin and Early Years (September 1996 – October 1999). Coldplaying. Archived at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Hi Oracle. Some of the early songs appear on two releases (singles, albums, EPs). Coldplay: Oracle. Archived at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Interview with Nikki Rosetti, producer of Coldplay's Safety and Blue Room EPs. Coldplaying. Published on 5 November 2009.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 coldplay: Art history #1 (Safety EP). coldplay.com. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Published on 10 June 2010.