Sometimes I write my thoughts down.

I heard a couple of new singles by established bands recently which made me wonder...

Firstly, the new Coldplay single. It's pleasant enough, but not particularly noteworthy... except that in the verses Chris's voice is fairly low (for him) and there's a lot more patterned lead guitar and less of Jonny's trademark jangly riffs. It's almost as if, having written their comeback single, Chris now wants to actually become Embrace.

Then I heard the new Idlewild single. Driving indie guitars, a big yet understated chorus, and an overall feeling that it just wants to be your friend. It could almost be... *gasp* ... a scottish Coldplay. On this evidence, it looks like Bob's most feared NME prediction - that Idlewild's new material would "blow Coldplay out of the water" - may just come to pass.

The question is, who are the new Idlewild, if such a thing exists? (Not Embrace, clearly, though it would make an amusing new type of 'musical chairs'!)

I just hope the rest of Coldplay's new stuff is better, that's all. I had high hopes...

Edit: Ooh, an intriguing development! I don't think Coldplay even have a new single yet. So the question is, what did I hear? It was on Radio 1 over the weekend, possibly late Saturday morning, and was definitely Chris Martin singing. Was it an unreleased track, e.g. for charity or something? Or Chris singing on someone else's record? Or am I just going mad? Please help, people! :)