XL Cover Story: ACL Festival 2005

Coldplay and the unbearable lightness of being a pop star

Kevin Westenberg photo Coldplay, headed by Chris Martin, center, never know when ... or if ... they will put together their next album. Coldplay performs Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on the SBC Stage.   » More ACL Festival.

Nobody could have predicted the dizzying heights to which Coldplay would ascend. Back then they were being hailed as the new Travis. Yet, fast-forward five years and Chris Martin and Co. have left Fran Healey in the dust — certainly not something Martin had anticipated.

"Our record's really good but it's not 'Revolver' or 'Rubber Soul,' " Martin told me back then. He was an anomaly: One minute he would say he thought "Parachutes" was the best album of the year, and the next he would lament the imminent demise of Coldplay, his comments seeping into paranoia.

"I sometimes think I'm going to quit next year because I wonder how we're going to match this ascent; we've got to prove ourselves even more," he said. "At the moment I can't imagine us doing another album. All I seem to worry about is losing my hair and not being able to write songs. It's ridiculous, because I've got thick hair."

And so it came as some surprise that when I met Martin again — this time joined by his bandmates — in London just before their current tour, he was still incredibly paranoid about whether he'll be able to write another album and whether or not he's still losing his hair.

"Sad to say, you may as well just reprint that interview because everything you've mentioned so far still rings very true. At least that shows consistency," he said with a laugh. "I thought I'd be bald by now and I'm very impressed that I'm not."

Their latest album, "X&Y," is something they've apparently managed to make against all the odds. The band spent almost eight months recording what would become the first version of "X&Y." They say it had some great songs but "no great performances," and it was unceremoniously dumped.

"There came a point where we all sat down in Liverpool and said there's something missing," Martin says. "And we realized we just hadn't really played together as a band for ages. So we became inseparable again.

"It took us a long time and a lot of money to work out that the thing we didn't need was time or money. We just needed each other."

Coldplay also needed to take time out of their humming schedule. A life spent on the road, playing stadium gigs and giving interviews as Britain's biggest band doesn't really inspire creativity, and Martin for one knew he had to start living his life again in order to have some material to write about.

"It's harder for people to relate to you if you're singing about sitting behind Beyoncé at the MTV awards," Martin said, breaking into mock-song: " 'I checked in two hours ago/and the first class lounge isn't open/Woe is me.' We're just lucky to be there in the first place. Having said that, we rarely go first class."

And so a marriage to one of Hollywood's biggest stars and becoming a father gave Martin just the material he needed to write an astounding new album, although he won't isolate any particular song as being a paean to Gwyneth Paltrow.

Martin and Paltrow have had to deal with the ever-persistent prying eyes of the paparazzi — particularly intrusive in Britain. It's something that has at times been a cause for concern. In 2003, Martin was charged with smashing the car window of an Australian photographer after the snaps were taken of him surfing in Byron Bay, although the charges were eventually dropped.

"There's a big difference between someone like you interviewing us for a feature and some (expletive) following us around because he wants to get a picture of me and Gwyneth Paltrow," Martin says. "I never thought it would become a problem; I don't care if they write nonsense but the only thing that worries me is someone jumping out with a camera and surprising me. I can't say how I'll react.

"It's like there are good bands and there are bad bands; there's good press and there's bad press. You're good press and we're a bad band."

"And the two together all make for an average article," guitarist Jonny Buckland added, chuckling.

On the world tour that followed the release of "X&Y," there has been one notable difference. Martin has used the platform — and his privileged position — to add his voice to the Make Trade Fair campaign. Coldplay first got involved in 2002 while recording "A Rush of Blood to the Head," the follow-up to "Parachutes." The campaign highlights the injustice of the world trade system and essentially wants poorer countries to sell their products to richer countries at a decent, or more fair, price.

Martin recently traveled to Ghana to see the campaign in action. "These people should be able to use the land they have to produce crops without being crushed by cheap, subsidized imports," he said. "It may be boring to talk about it but it's a crucial thing to sort out in terms of the world not spiralling ever faster toward disaster.

"Those that say politics and pop don't mix are idiots. Politics affects all of us. And we regard this as important as Beyoncé regards her commitment to L'Oréal."

As for the future of Coldplay, once again, like five years ago, Martin is reticent. "At the moment we've got no ideas, so as far as I'm concerned there will not be another Coldplay record. But in two months' time things might be different. When I tell you I don't think there'll be another Coldplay album I genuinely mean it, 100 percent — I'm not lying. But looking at past evidence, that will probably change in about four months."

And quite a few people hope he's right.