Coldplay have been around for over a decade now, and while immensely popular, they haven’t gone without criticism, often getting labelled as unoriginal and uninspired, both in their music and lyrics. Even so, they continue to produce music that their fans love. The band introduced a more upbeat, poppy sound with 2008’s Viva la Vida that was not seen on previous albums. Mylo Xyloto follows suit, but not in a good way.

Coldplay has taken every piece of criticism they’ve received in the past decade and swirled it into one big mess of an album. Mylo Xyloto makes no attempt at achieving a coherent flow. A few songs (“Us Against the World,” “U.F.O.,” “Up in Flames”) are reminiscent of their older, more sombre sound, but the rest of the album is full of experimental chaos. The first single “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” is filled with clichéd lyrics that have come to be expected, but also a strange mix of simple keyboard chords and an annoying, country-esque guitar riff that doesn’t fit. This inconsistency is also seen in “Paradise” and “Don’t Let it Break Your Heart.”

It sounds as if Coldplay is trying to explore new realms of their sound, but in so doing they stray too far from the signature style of previous releases. Fans can either continue on and accept the new sound or recognize their downward spiral.