Released on this day 5 years ago, this album is not one I listen to often, but I listen to it more than any other album Coldplay has released in the last 15 years. Coldplay released this by playing the songs live online from the country of Jordan during sunrise and sunset 5 years ago, which was a memorable way to debut the album. More than any other Coldplay album in the last 15 years, this album has a variety of sounds, not just the same energetic pop that they've been putting on their albums for the last 15 years before or since. There's a moment of Gospel music, some sounds of the Middle East, some beautiful instrumentals, and some lyrics talking about the world's issues today, not just feel-good pop anthems. It was refreshing to see the band coming back to making interesting music like they did on their earliest albums, and it's unfortunate their two albums since Everyday Life just seem they're going back to their formulaic stuff that does not connect with me as much. It's not that all their recent music is terrible, but this is their only recent album that I like listening through as an album.

Release Year: 2019
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