Coldplay, one of the most successful rock bands of the 21st century, has returned in 2019 with a double album titled “Everyday Life.” This is their second album to receive a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Is “Everyday Life” worth listening to?

This album gets off to a great start. I love the intro track “Sunrise”, a beautiful orchestral piece with a slight sense of danger to it. This is the musical equivalent to a calm before the storm. This sets up the rest of the album very well.

The following track “Churches” has a great instrumental, combining drums, acoustic guitar and the orchestra from the previous track. I am also a big fan of Chris Martin’s vocals. As simple as this song is, I think it works very well. I like the creativity with the vocal lines and occasional atmosphere created by the guitars and keys. Nothing mind blowing, but a good Coldplay song nonetheless.

Despite a slow start, the next track “Trouble in Town” blew me away on first listen. The track starts with sparse keys and bass. This combined with the soft vocals originally bored me, but it sets up the end of the song beautifully. The end of the song samples an altercation between an American policeman and a person of color. The recording is chilling, and the instrumental behind it perfectly encapsulates how listening to the audio from the cop makes me feel. The synths, guitar, and drums exploding when the recording ends gives me chills each time I listen to it. This song’s execution was outstanding, this is by far the best track on the album.

Unfortunately, these first three tracks are by far the best. While these first three songs were able to be meaningful while sounding good, the rest of the album either sacrifices one for the other, or accomplishes neither.

While I like the lyrics of “Daddy”, this song is so boring. It has a serene instrumental and calming vocals, but the track never goes anywhere for me. I don’t think that there is enough emotional potency in the vocal performance and instrumental here to justify a track like this.

The song “WOTW/POTP” is a demo plopped straight in the middle of the album. While I appreciate the lo-fi aesthetic, this song feels very incomplete. I do not understand why this is here. The rest of the first disk, titled “Sunrise,” is similarly disappointing.

The beginning of the second disk, titled “Sunset,” also has a decent start. I love the energy in the guitars of “Guns.” This song is about Gun culture in America, and I think the combination of the lyrics and the vocal performance make this song really work.

The next track “Orphans” is a typical pop song from Coldplay. I have a soft-spot for their songs like this because of how much I loved Coldplay’s hits when I was younger. Despite how unadventurous this song is, I love how this song makes me feel. Chris Martin’s voice is the best.

The following track “Èkó” has a great vibe. It makes me feel like I’m in a medieval village. I like the guitar and the vocals here.

After this point, I get bored again. “Cry Cry Cry,” featuring another Grammy Nominated artist Jacob Collier, sounds like a half-baked James Blake song. I like the vocal effects, but this song goes nowhere interesting. There are no risks here. Snoozefest.

This album is not a terrible album. There are very few moments here of incompetency. My issue with this is that there are way too many songs here that are just “fine.” While there were some really rough spots on Jacob Collier’s “Djesse Vol. 3,” Collier made up for it with his playfulness. “Everyday Life” is more consistent, but is that really a good thing if it’s consistently uninteresting? There are some good tracks here, but I can’t recommend this album.

Favorite Songs: “Sunrise,” “Church,” “Trouble in Town,” “Guns,” “Orphans,” “Èkó”

Least Favorite Song: “WOTW/POTP”

Rating: 4.5/10