Coldplay: 'Christmas Lights'

Ah, the Christmas single! 'Merry Xmas Everybody', 'Last Christmas', 'Fairytale of New York', 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' and my personal fave 'Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)' may outstay their welcome for those who work in radio or near one, but for the rest of us there is no finer annual tradition. Sadly, when some acts try their gloved hands at the Yuletide spinner, they do so with less-than-stellar results - 'Naughty Christmas' and '8 Days Of Christmas' would probably bring out the Grinch in Kris Kringle! So, where does Coldplay's wintry attempt rank on the Christmas tree?

Well, it's a weighty Christmas pud of a track, which roughly mixes two-thirds REM's 'Nightswimming' with one third Kelly Clarkson's 'Breakaway'. When it's done, you get something that's unmistakable, classic Coldplay. The swoopy stringy bit? Tick. The Chris Martin singing all squeaky bit? Tick. The big uplifiting bit? Tick. The bit where it all winds down before geeing up again? Why, of course! Yeah it's a little boring. Sure the lyrics ("I took my feet / To Oxford Street/ Trying to right a wrong") are annoyingly sickly, and perhaps it sounds more like a corporate John Lewis Christmas ad than this year's actual corporate John Lewis Christmas ad, but hey, it's Christmas! Only a right Scrooge would want to deprive Coldplay fans (and there are apparently many), of this slice of festive melancholy.


> Click here to watch the 'Christmas Lights' video