Two of music's biggest stars, Coldplay and Avicii, shocked the world when they collaborated on their recent hit single "Sky Full of Stars." At first it seemed like an odd collaboration for Coldplay to dip into the EDM pool for help on their album, but in a recent interview with Beats, frontman Chris Martin explained their reasoning for tabbing Avicii on the project and other influences for "Sky Full of Stars" and the album Ghost Stories.
In starting the songwriting process, Chris Martin had been listening to a lot of Katy Perry at the time. He was enamored with the simplicity of her songs that use the same chords throughout, while layering a few extra elements over top. He also lists Nirvana as another artist who excelled at this "less is more, simplistic way" of songwriting, as noted by Rolling Stone.
He increasingly started looking to EDM as a source of inspiration, speaking on the togetherness of fans.
"Some people turn their nose up at it, but then you go and see an EDM thing and people are so together and having the best time," said Martin. "So I was like, 'F--k it, I love that stuff, I want us to have a song that comes from that world.'"
Aware of the growing dance music trend and their growing love for the genre, the group decided to call Avicii to help out with an idea they had for a song. Chris Martin had written the top line for "Sky Full of Stars," but they wanted to make it electronic. They had no idea how to do it, so they tabbed Avicii to help out.
They each built their own tracks and worked to combine them, saying the process was "Essentially playing Tetris for f--king hours," Martin jokes. "That's why it took so long."
Martin notes the importance of the song not only in the context of the album, but also Coldplay's career. For him it is greater than just another song on an album.
He explains, "It's the most important song we've ever had lyrically because every time I sing it I'm like, 'Yeah, that's how I want to live my life."
Chris Martin is listed as a collaborator on Avicii's upcoming album, via Stereogum, so maybe we will see something similar on their next effort.
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