Coldplay have released their 10th studio album, Moon Music, leaving only two records to go, according to frontman Chris Martin. As the band nears the finish line with two decades of record releases behind them, they have grown increasingly chaotic while sorting out new ways to promote their music. On the eve of the LP’s release, Coldplay led a Moon Music-themed sales segment on QVC. And later on, Martin stopped by The Tonight Show disguised as a busking audience member named Nigel.
Coldplay made a convincing sales pitch for the album on QVC, where they performed an acoustic version of the Moon Music single “feelslikeimfallinginlove.” They pushed for people to buy the album itself, but if anyone watching had a particular aversion to listening to the band, there was something for them too: a toaster that prints the words “Moon Music” on pieces of bread and a tea set branded with the album artwork. The QVC appearance also featured a choir-backed performance and a segment where the band took phone calls from fans.
Over on The Tonight Show, Martin went on a solo side quest to revive Nigel, the alter ego he introduced when he went undercover to perform “All My Love” at a Las Vegas karaoke bar last month. In the bit, host Jimmy Fallon regretfully informed the audience that the singer would no longer be appearing as promised. Among the bummed out crowd was Nigel, who Fallon invited on stage after spotting his red balloon and keyboard.
Nigel attempted to play some music for the audience, but exclusively tried out songs he didn’t actually know the words to. Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” became a tune about finding a parking spot. Lionel Richie’s “Hello” morphed into a missing person’s poster. The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” offered a glimpse into the future of New York if we don’t get climate change under control soon: “Underwater Subway Station.” Needless to say, Nigel doesn’t make a ton of money when he’s out busking on the streets.
Later in the show, Martin returned sans geeky costume to discuss the future of Coldplay. “This is a bit hippie, maybe, for The Tonight Show, but I don’t really know where songs come from,” he said. “It’s just always been very clear to me that we’re supposed to make 12 things. This is number 10. Number 11 is a musical and number 12 is a very tiny album kind of back in our bedrooms. That’s the truth.” The final album won’t mark a full retirement. Martin believes the band will just find other outlets to channel their music into.
They’re still feeling particularly collaborative even as they near the end. Their single “We Pray” features English rapper Little Simz, Nigerian singer Burna Boy, Palestinian-Chilean musician Elyanna and Argentinian singer Tini. Martin and Fallon sang a version of the recording on The Tonight Show, with Fallon trying on the voices of other potential collaborators: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Adam Sandler, and Barry Gibb.
For Martin, nothing is off limits when it comes to expanding Coldplay’s range. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the musician shared, “What we are, as a band, is a band who are committed to doing what feels right at the time and following the songs.”
This philosophy has led them to collaborations with everyone from Avicii to BTS. “I think with all of these songs we’ve chosen for this, they’ve all been allowed to be themselves, and the identity of the band has grown to accommodate that,” he continued. “So now, if we said, ‘Oh, we want to do a song with One Direction,’ no one would think anything of it. I don’t think that’s possible right now, because they’ve gone in five directions. But it’s fun to let the band grow.”
