Music Of The Spheres takes on a galactic theme to signify the necessity of taking a step back to look critically at the world we live in, Berryman told us.
“It is really just a vehicle for us to look at the planet that we all live on and we all share, from an outside perspective,” he said. “As human beings who are separated by imaginary boundaries and countries, sometimes it’s hard for us to realise on the ground that it’s a very precious situation that we all live in, and the planet’s a very special and precious place.
“And sometimes, it’s very difficult to realise everything that is great about the world and to clearly see everything that’s terrible about the world when you’re in it. So, we try to look at everything from further away and analyse things as if the planet were being seen by an alien race or something. That really set the framework for everything the album is about.”
In doing that, “I think the hard part is sometimes just not living in denial about the situation we’re all facing at the moment,” he said. “It’s very easy to ignore all of the problems that are in the world, whether it be environmental or political or wars that are going on. Of course, we all see and read the news, but it’s also very easy for us to then walk away from that and not do anything. So, I think the hard part is just opening your eyes and realising that the situation in certain circumstances is pretty bad.”
On the environmental front, Coldplay has fought hard to make progress in sustainability when it comes to the impact of their tours. On a show-by-show basis, they say, their current tour has so far produced 47 per cent less carbon dioxide equivalent emissions than their previous stadium tour in 2016/17, and that five million trees, one for each concert goer, have been planted around the world.
“I’d like to express how excited we are to be coming back and playing shows in Asia, and we’re always sorry that we can’t come more often – it always seems to be years and years between the shows,” Berryman said. “But, I think we have a great show and we’re super happy to be coming and excited to get in front of our fans.”
Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour will take place in Singapore on Jan 23, 24, 26, 27 and 30 at 8pm at the National Stadium. General ticket sales commence on Tuesday (Jun 20) at 2pm via Ticketmaster, with ticket prices starting from S$68, excluding booking fees.