I must be on a different planet from y'all. On first listen:
- Orphans is same old same old new-Coldplay boring generic pop song.
- Arabesque does not sound like Coldplay at all but I like a lot, especially the ending! Closest Coldplay song to it is maybe Violet Hill...
That being said neither is great and I am not very confident in the album thus far.
My initial thoughts:
Orphans: As others have said somewhat of a classic Coldplay pop song but I do find it more interesting than their recent pop songs. Good production and interesting instrumentation make this song good. Also seems pretty catchy.
Arabesque: Less Coldplayesque but you can still hear Coldplay's DNA all over it. It sounds like far more of a rock song than Coldplay have released in a long time. Also don't think Coldplay have done a jazz song before.
Overall I like both songs (Arabesque more than Orphans), both leave me hopeful that the album will be much better than their recent pop efforts but neither are a full home run.
Unlike others here I do think they represent quite a departure (especially Arabesque) from Coldplay's recent pop efforts and are quite experimental for Coldplay. Remember that Coldplay's idea of experimenting isn't like U2's experimental efforts; Coldplay's is much closer to their main work and has the same Coldplay DNA. Even though Viva is quite 'experimental' it still definitely sounds like a Coldplay album. Those who thought that Coldplay were going to release a Pop/Zooropa level experiment should probably keep their expectations in line.
The co-lead single “Arabesque” (which is the lead single for the “Sunrise” part of the album) is Coldplay’s way of trying to sew peace in the wake of the western fear of Islam with the war on terrorism going on. Instrumentally, the song merges western musical styles with Middle Eastern rhythms (like with the guitar & saxophone) placing the idea that ‘music unites us all’.
Arabesque is a visual art genre, which was mostly used in Islamic countries. For example, in architecture, it’s an ornamental design consisting of intertwined flowing lines, originally found in ancient Islamic art. While in dance and ballet, it is a dancing posture. The name of the songs is very apropos to the whole theme of the album being Arabic and bringing the culture to western media. The meaning of the track is also parallel and similar to the song “بنی آدم (Son of Adam)” by the Persian poet, Sadi.
During the BBC Radio 1 premiere interview with Annie Mac, Chris stated that he got to put three generations of a family into the track. Remi Kuti is the one who is speaking on the “Music is the weapon,” his son Femi Kuti is featured in the song, and Femi’s son is the saxophone soloist.
I really, really like their intention of bringing Arabic and Farsi culture closer to the western civilization, even if it probably will end up being embarrasing. But an embarrasing try is better than no try at all, right?
That being said, these two songs are... Not good.
Orphans is the same old standard pop crap with Arfrican-jungle-ish influences they've been putting out since 2012
Arabesque had a very promising start and first half, then it went south with the saxophone solo which was boring and pretentious (I'm shamelessly quoting @Ali709 here). It got better at the end though, and at least it is something DIFFERENT. That's very good news.
Arabesque I’ve really not got much good to say about at all, perhaps I agree that the first half of the song sounded promising like it could have went somewhere but then it didn’t. Orphans I’m almost grudgingly liking. Like Jroz said above I also find it more interesting than there more recent pop efforts, isn’t going to be one of my favourite Coldplay tunes but I can get into it, let myself enjoy the tune as opposed to look for something more from it. I don’t get the same feeling with it like I do with some of there other commercial efforts that make me cringe almost.
