"Poncy Little Masturbators"

Coldplay have gone through the usual modern mechanics of releasing a record, giving away their first single as a free download – pretty obvious stuff really. In fact the whole promotion feels lightweight, polarizing critics and fans. It feels as if it’s more about attempts to make Chris Martin become an edgy pop star with the publicising of a series of angry walkouts.

First, he dropped out of some innocuous newspaper interview without any reason and the record company promoted it. Then, on the day that Viva La Vida went platinum, Martin walked out of a Radio 4 Front Row interview. Was this a wet attempt from Martin at a Sex Pistols-style antic or was he trying to regain the attention of John Lydon who called Coldplay “a gang of poncy little masturbators”? Let’s face it, Coldplay are a commercial juggernaut and so any promotion has the calculated feel of being guided by the firm grip of venture capitalists.