Mylo Xyloto

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Lore & Background

Mylo Xyloto is the band's first concept album, and it also is a thematic rock opera. The album tells the story of a war against sound and colour on the planet Silencia, which has been overtaken by a totalitarian government led by Major Minus, who controls the population through media and propaganda. His aim is to take sound and colour off the streets in hope to draw away 'feeders', creatures that use such energy to hunt its prey. The album follows the protagonist Mylo Xyloto, a 'silencer', a soldier in an army tasked to hunt and track down 'sparkers', people who harness light and energy and use it to create sparks, comparable to graffiti in real life. He encounters Fly, the sparker most wanted by Major Minus. Through Fly, Mylo discovers his sparker abilities and his affiliation with the Car Kids, a major sparker faction founded by Mylo's parents, Aiko and Lela. Drummer Will Champion has noted that the album is a story of the characters 'falling in love and trying to escape together', with a general theme of 'love conquering all'. In the comics based on the album, Mylo Xyloto is the main protagonist and Fly is the sparker girl he encounters.

In Their Own Story

The band originally planned two separate records: a stripped-down acoustic album and an electric one called Mylo Xyloto. However, they realized they could not focus on both, noting that songs like 'Paradise' required their new electronic territory. A turning point occurred with the song 'Charlie Brown'; initially played on an accordion for the acoustic concept, bassist Guy Berryman insisted it belong to the electric project, leading the band to combine them into one album. The final result features worldbeat elements from their predecessor but is dominated by electro-rock sounds, starting with synthesised vocals in 'Hurts Like Heaven' and R&B beats in 'Princess of China'. Three short instrumentals serve as experimental electronic interjections throughout the record, bridging tracks like 'Us Against the World', which kept its stripped approach, and the newly formed 'Charlie Brown'.

Reader's Guide

The album received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its uplifting tone and new electronic sound; however, some found its material bombastic and overproduced. 'Paradise' and 'Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall' received a total of three nominations at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, while the album and 'Charlie Brown' received two further nods in the following year. Internationally, Mylo Xyloto charted at number one in 34 countries. In the United Kingdom, Mylo Xyloto became Coldplay's fifth album to debut at number one, selling 208,343 units in its first week, and setting a one-week digital sales record with 83,000 copies sold. Mylo Xyloto broke an iTunes record for digital downloads sales by selling over 500,000 digital copies in a week. (Beyoncé's self-titled album and Adele's 25 topped this record in 2013 and 2015 respectively). Mylo Xyloto became Coldplay's third album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 447,411 units in its first week of sales. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling rock album of 2011, moving over 908,000 copies. The album has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.

Did You Know?

• The album's story is set on the planet Silencia, which has been overtaken by a totalitarian government led by Major Minus.
• The character Mylo Xyloto is a 'silencer' who discovers his sparker abilities through the sparker Fly.
• The album broke an iTunes record for digital downloads, selling over 500,000 digital copies in a week.
• Coldplay's previous album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, was also produced with Brian Eno.