Review: Coldplay romps through a sonic wonderland on ‘Moon Music’

Coldplay has always overflowed with earnestness, and that desire to hug the world has only amplified as singer Chris Martin and his kindred spirit bandmates march deeper into middle age.
“Moon Music,” the band’s 10th studio album, out Friday, is lush and dreamy and ethereal and all of the words expected when describing Coldplay’s music.
It’s also contemplative and sweet – very, very sweet – as Martin, 47, tosses love bombs on nearly every track (he has been linked to Dakota Johnson since 2017). That is, when he isn’t sharing a poignant piano melody and pondering life in simple, yet effective terms.
“Maybe I’m just crazy/ I should be a brick in the wall/ Sit and watch the TV, blame everyone else for it all/ But I’m trying to trust in the heavens above/ And I’m trying to trust in a world full of love,” he sings on the title track, which opens the album.
Martin and bandmates Jonny Buckland (guitar), Will Champion (drums) and Guy Berryman (bass) paint their reflective state over soaring choruses (“Feels Like I’m Falling in Love”) and intriguing combinations of strings and syncopated beats (“We Pray,” featuring a welcome contribution from British rapper Little Simz).
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It can sometimes feel as if the album is about to veer into Music for Planetariums, especially the six-minute, mostly instrumental “Alien Hits/Alien Radio.” But stick with it. The tempo-shifting track, awash in vocalizations, includes dialogue from Maya Angelou about being a rainbow in someone’s cloud, and suddenly this notable musical excursion makes sense.  
The backbone of “Moon Music” rests on mega-producer Max Martin − known for his pop genius on songs by artists who run the range from Britney Spears to Taylor Swift to The Weeknd − who also helmed the band’s 2021 album, “Music of the Spheres.”
Here, he’s in a sonic wonderland as he hopscotches with the band through EDM (“Aeterna”) and shimmery pop (“Good Feelings,” which offers the type of synthesized funk popularized by The 1975).
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But two of the best tracks reside in familiar territory.
“IAAM” digs into feelings and builds into one of those Coldplay specialties of numerous crescendos, crashing cymbals and a singing guitar line driving the whole melodic burst.
“I’m really sorry for some things I said along the way/ I really love you, I just didn’t like myself that day,” Martin explains with apologetic tenderness.
But the band unleashes a dam of warmth and affection on the ballad “All My Love.” It’s the song Martin recently showed up to sing incognito in a Las Vegas bar and might help him eclipse Ed Sheeran as the wedding song king.
Against a lovely piano backdrop, Martin hits his falsetto while crooning, “You’ve got all my love/ Whether it rains or pours, I’m all yours.”
Then the strings and acoustic guitar kick in on the second verse to add texture as he continues, “And till I die/ Let me hold you if you cry/ Be my one, two, three forever.”
Maybe Martin isn’t the most garrulous guy, but he makes his point effectively and lovingly.
So is “Moon Music” revolutionary? No. But there’s also nothing wrong with steady goodness, and Coldplay continues to be a reliable provider.