White Shadows (song)

''X&Y'' is the third studio album by British rock band Coldplay. It was released on 6 June 2005 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and a day later by Capitol Records in the United States. The album was produced by Coldplay and producer Danton Supple. It is noted for its troubled and urgent development, as well as Phil Harvey's brief departure from the band. Producer Ken Nelson was originally tasked with producing the record; however, many songs written during his sessions were discarded due to the band's dissatisfaction with them. The album's cover art is a combination of colours and blocks, which is a representation of the Baudot code.

The album contains twelve tracks and an additional hidden song, "Til Kingdom Come", which is listed as "+" on the disc label and inside the record's booklet. It was originally planned for American country star Johnny Cash to record it with lead singer Chris Martin, but Cash died before he was able to do so. The song "Talk" appeared in the track listing, although after it leaked online in early 2005 it was thought to have been downgraded to a B-side for the album's subsequent single releases.

''X&Y'' was released after a considerable amount of global anticipation. Overall reaction to the album was generally positive. Furthermore, it was a significant commercial success, reaching the number-one position in the charts of 32 countries around the world, including the United Kingdom (where it had the third biggest sales week in history at the time) and the United States (where it became Coldplay's first album to top the ''Billboard'' 200 chart). With over 8.3 million copies sold worldwide, ''X&Y'' was the best-selling album of 2005, accumulating over 13 million units as of December 2012. It spawned the singles "Speed of Sound", "Fix You", "Talk" and " The Hardest Part".

Background

Coldplay announced details about ''X&Y'' in March 2004 while the album was being recorded. Their initial plans were to stay out of the public eye throughout the year. Lead singer Chris Martin stated, "We really feel that we have to be away for a while and we certainly won't release anything this year, because I think people are a bit sick of us." This plan was not carried out, because of the pressure their second album ''A Rush of Blood to the Head'' had induced; but they were trying "to make the best thing that anyone has ever heard". Prior to the announcement, Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland and British record producer Ken Nelson had started recording demos while in Chicago. The band then entered a London studio in January 2004.

Recording

The band spent all of 2004 producing ''X&Y''. The released album is the third version the band had produced during the recording sessions, and some have even considered it as their fifth album due to constant changes in track lists and re-recordings. The band members were not satisfied with the output of their initial sessions with Nelson, who had produced the band's previous two albums, ''Parachutes'' (2000) and ''A Rush of Blood to the Head'' (2002). It also remains the only Coldplay album in which they had been through the creative process without Phil Harvey's "presence, influence and guidance".

The initial set release date was late 2004, but was later pushed back to January 2005. As the new target date was approaching, the band again discarded songs, which they deemed "flat" and "passionless". Sixty songs were written during these sessions, fifty-two of which were ditched. The band started rehearsing the songs for a planned tour, but felt the songs sounded better live compared to their recorded versions: "We realized that we didn't really have the right songs and some of them were starting to sound better because we were playing them than they did on record, so we thought we better go back and record them again." Guitarist Jonny Buckland has said that the band had pushed themselves "forward in every direction" in making the album, but they felt it sounded like they were going backwards compared to their earlier works.

Attempting to perfect their work, Coldplay had to "step it up a few notches and work hard at it to get it right". The band chose Danton Supple, who mixed the bulk of ''A Rush of Blood to the Head'', to oversee the production of ''X&Y''. When January went, the band had to finish the album; they were conscious of the pressure as "expectations for the record grew larger" and "completing it became tougher and tougher". Finally, the band were settled with the song "Square One", which Martin has described as "a call to arms" and a "plea" to each of them "not to be intimidated by anything or anyone else". Once finished, the band felt like they could do their own songs and not have to think of anyone else's demands. During this month, the band were into the final weeks of production and had put the finishing touches on the tracks.

Drummer Will Champion later admitted that Coldplay did not rush to complete the album "because the prospect of touring again was so daunting that we felt we should take our time, and also we wanted to make sure that it was the best it could possibly be". According to him, the band had no deadline, which allowed them not to feel pressured into finishing something. Once a proper deadline was imposed onto the band, they became more productive than in previous sessions. At this juncture, the band had written "about 14 or 15 songs". Martin added that the reason why they ended up late was that they "... kept ddingfinishing ouches tothe record until it was way too late ... heydon't listen to it at the moment, because hey wouldjust find something to go back and change." The late release of the album was blamed for a drop in EMI's share price. In response, Chris Martin said "I don't really care about EMI. I think shareholders are the great evil of this modern world."

Composition

Music

The music of ''X&Y'' consists of multi-layered production with heavy electronic influences, featuring the extensive use of synthesizers. Musical characteristics that contribute to the album's multi-layering and grandiosity include fast tempos (in contrast to the 2 previous albums), dynamic drum patterns, distorted guitar riffs, and driving basslines.

Coldplay have also cited various other influences in the album. That of German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk is evident on the song "Talk", which borrows (with permission) its hook from 1981's " Computer Love", with the riff being played on electric guitar instead of on a synthesizer. Also present is large electronic musical influences, from some of the likes of English musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno. Eno, who would later produce ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'', also played backing synthesizer on the track "Low". The first single, "Speed of Sound", also takes inspiration from the drumbeat of English singer-songwriter Kate Bush's song "Running Up that Hill". According to Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times'', who wrote a controversial article extensively criticizing the album, the band attempts to "carry the beauty of 'Clocks'" across the album, borrowing some of its features in songs like "Speed of Sound". The opening track "Square One" also features the famous motif from ''Also sprach Zarathustra

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