Coldplay Premiere Massive New Single 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall'

You probably didn't need that second cup of coffee Friday (June 3) morning if you heard Coldplay's caffeinated new single, "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall." It premiered while most of us here in the States were just waking up and is certainly the kind of tune that can jump-start a day.

Vaguely trance-y, slightly meditative and most definitely sunny, "Teardrop" is basically four minutes of pure, unadulterated uplift. Beginning with shimmering synth stokes, building steam on guitars both strummed and bent skyward and kicking into high gear on a thumping, four-on-the-floor house beat, it is a song in a state of constant build, growing more massive with each passing second. It's a single more eye-opening than a snoot-full of arabica.

Frontman Chris Martin matches the wide-screen sonics with his lilting vocals, hitting the (many) "woah-oh-ohs" with aplomb and delivering refrains ("I turn the music up/ I got my records on") with a wiry persistence. The latter only adds to the song's dreamlike feel; the lines almost seem like a contemplative prayer, their repetition like layers in an ever-growing mantra that eventually leads to some sort of higher consciousness. The funny thing is, those lyrics -- which are all about finding solace in music and strength in self -- are also incredibly insular, and when paired with the unapologetically over-the-top music, they create a rather interesting dichotomy: This is, one can assume, a deeply personal song that Martin wrote for ... everybody in the entire world.

Then again, that's seemingly the only way Coldplay do things, and "Teardrop" is certainly a worthy addition to their inspirational songbook. It also seems to fit the theme of their still-untitled new album, which Martin described as being "about life, the good stuff, the bad stuff, everything." And really, how can you sum up their brand-new single any better than that? So if I'm being a tad too professorial in my assessment of "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall," you'll have to forgive me ... I guess I really miss that second cup of coffee.