To mark NME‘s exclusive interview with Coldplay‘s Chris Martin, the frontman has also shared a playlist of what he’s currently listening to. Check it out below, along with Martin’s guide to songs by the likes of Fontaines D.C., Peggy Gou, The Flaming Lips, Destiny’s Child and more.
This Friday (October 4) will see the release of Coldplay’s 10th album ‘Moon Music‘. As part of our extended interview with the Glastonbury headliners, Martin also talked us through his curated playlist of tracks he can’t get enough of at the moment, which you can stream below on Spotify and here on Apple Music.
“With competitiveness and professional jealousy, I feel very lucky that it very quickly alchemises into just being inspired by someone and then being a fan of them,” Martin told NME, before giving us the lowdown on his fandom love of The Verve, R.E.M., and Missy Elliot in his genre-smashing choices. Check out what tracks he selected and why here…
‘It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)’ – Peggy Gou
Chris Martin: “Peggy Gou is a genius, as far as I am concerned. Her grooves are wonderful. Some people are still in the age of social media and everyone knowing everything, while some people just have ‘cool’ about them. Nick Cave has cool about him, Jay Z is effortlessly cool, and I think Peggy Gou is like that. Of course she has ‘Nanana’, which was brilliant, but I heard ‘If It Makes You Forget’ a few years ago, and every time I do I’m like, ‘How does she do that?’ It’s so clever. When talking about people who make you want to be on top of your game, and she’s one of them.”
‘Bittersweet Symphony’ – The Verve
“Any list of songs that I like has to include this because it’s still the most important song in my life. In a strange way, if you put together all of our songs, they’re all essentially saying that same thing: ‘It’s a bittersweet symphony’ – focussing more on the sweet, but always aware of the bitter. I was at that perfect age for that song; it was just seismic.
“When we were late-teenagers in the mid-90s, the big five of British bands were The Verve, Oasis, Blur, Supergrass, Radiohead. While I still love all five of those bands equally and for different reasons, if I had to take one song from that period, it would have to be ‘Bittersweet Symphony’. It only just beats ‘Airbag’ [Radiohead], ‘It’s Too Late’ [Supergrass], ‘Song 2’ [Blur] and the whole of ‘Different Class’ [Pulp]. ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ must always win.”
‘Independent Women, Pt. 1’ – Destiny’s Child
“This is the blessing of being in our band is you’re allowed to like all kinds of different things because you never have to worry about being cool! Now of course, liking Beyoncé is super cool. The first time we played Top Of The Pops, we were walking up the stage looking like what we were (which was students who’d just been given a bit of money).
“We didn’t look very good, but coming down the stairs were this group of goddesses. I hadn’t heard of them yet, but it was Destiny’s Child. We’d just done our performance of ‘Yellow’ or whatever, and ‘Independent Woman’ was around that time. I was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s a whole other level beyond grime-y bars and indie cool’. To this day, Beyoncé is someone who I’m always inspired by and in awe of. That was the first song that made me understand how good she is.”
‘In The Wee Small Hours’ – Frank Sinatra
“There definitely comes a time in life when you realise, to paraphrase Spinal Tap, no one has loved and lost like Frank. ‘In The Wee Small Hours’ and ‘Only The Lonely’ – those two records that were made in the ‘50s and arranged by a guy called Nelson Riddle who also did a lot of Ella Fitzgerald’s records. His arrangements are compositions and geniusly put-together. There’s a warmth, a sadness and a beauty in those albums that just really hits me now. I feel the same way about Chopin. These are all things that put me firmly in my place.”
‘Feeling Good’ – Nina Simone
“To me, she’s a real paradigm for one of the key philosophies of our band: look at what’s missing as an opportunity, look at what’s broken as the crack where the light comes in (that’s a Leonard Cohen line). Whatever’s happening to you is supposed to be happening to you and is for its highest good. Her story is that she was rejected from a classical conservatoire because of her colour, so she went and became Nina Simone. That’s alchemising trauma in such an incredible way. I hold her in the pantheon of great humans.
“I first heard this song being covered by Muse, every night when we opened for them back in 2000. I was like, ‘Oh this band are really good and that Nina Simone song is amazing.”
‘Nightswimming’ – R.E.M.
“R.E.M. are in the first group of big inspirers. After James, plus ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson, Aha, and a band called Five Star, they were my first influences. Then came the first real wave of indie and shoegaze – some of it I really liked but some I just pretended to be into to impress the older boys.
“My introduction to R.E.M. was ‘Losing My Religion’, but then ‘Nightswimming’ was when I really fell in love with that band. I realised you could be a great band without any virtuosos if you’ve got the gift of songs and you really care about what you’re doing. R.E.M. gave me that lesson, and ‘Nightswimming’ still blows my mind every time I hear it.”
‘Starburster’ – Fontaines D.C.
“Will [Champion, Coldplay drummer] actually told me about Fontaines right at the beginning with ‘Big’. I listened to it and I got insanely jealous, which is my highest compliment. It was the same thing I felt when I saw The Flaming Lips for the first time or heard Nicki Minaj’s verse on ‘Monster’ by Kanye West. ‘Oh my god, how do you get this good?’ With ‘Big’ I thought, ‘This is unbelievable’. Then ‘Boys In The Better Land’ did the same and my son got really into Fontaines D.C. a few years ago. I thought ‘Skinty Fia’ was a masterpiece and I was eager to hear ‘Romance’ and ‘Starburster’.
“It shows how you become a brilliant band over a long period of time. It’s brave, it’s forward-thinking, it’s got soul, the lyrics are incredible, the melodies are incredible, the production is incredible, it keeps every other band on their toes. You can play it last in a set when no one even knows it and it will hold up. It’s perfect. That deep inhale is the best anti-sing-along too, it’s a breathe-along!”
‘Die Fledermaus: Overture’ – Johann Strauss II
“I saw this the other day at The Hollywood Bowl. My friend is a conductor and he was conducting it. It’s a waltz. Classical music was pop music at the time, and it really hit me the other night. I went right to the back of The Hollywood Bowl behind everybody and watched from way back. I felt like a fan and intimidated by how good the piece was. It was so full of life and colour.
“If this came out tomorrow, it would still be a hit in its way. Even the barrier between ‘classical’ and ‘modern’ music are being erased now. Things are either great or they’re not. This is really, truly wonderful.”
‘The Spark That Bled’ – The Flaming Lips
“When I was 19 and Coldplay was forming, you can hear in our early stuff that my main two influences at that time were Jeff Buckley and Radiohead. Jeff because I could sing in the same range. Before that, I didn’t think we stood a chance because I couldn’t sing like Liam Gallagher, we didn’t have the energy of Supergrass, I can’t observe like Jarvis Cocker could with Sheffield, I’m in trouble. Forget about trip-hop and hip-hop; that seemed so far away. Then Jeff Buckley seemed to sing like I sing but much better, and Radiohead at that time were from a similar socio-economic part of the country and were brilliant. They made me feel like it was possible to be in a band.”
“For a while, you can hear their influence, but then in 1999 we played Reading Festival at the bottom of the bill in the new band’s tent. At the top of the bill was The Flaming Lips, about whom I’d read in the NME and Melody Maker, because they were all into ‘The Soft Bulletin’ and saying it was the best album ever. I had to check them out.
‘The Spark That Bled’ was the first time I’d heard them when I saw them live, and it changed my entire world. It made me realise, ‘Oh, what our band needs to be is just ourselves’. As the internet grew and we travelled further and wider, we found too many influences to name. At the centre of any artist, should just be the freedom and bravery to be yourself – regardless of what anybody says.
“As a human too; as long as you’re not trying to hurt anybody, then the biggest thing you can be is yourself. Wayne Coyne was the first person I saw in the flesh, being really himself. It changed my life.”
‘Work It’ – Missy Elliott
“I remember that video being brilliant. I was probably watching that in the studio, thinking ‘Where has this come from?’ We hadn’t been to America yet or anything, and this was another thing that felt a million miles away but now doesn’t. It’s another perfect song.”
Coldplay release ‘Moon Music’ on October 4 via Parlophone, before touring in summer 2025. Visit here for tickets and more information.
Check out NME’s exclusive interview with Martin here.
