Mylo Xyloto

This article is about the album. For the comic, see Mylo Xyloto (comics).

Mylo Xyloto
A close-up photograph of various graffiti painted over wooden walls. The words "Mylo Xyloto" are written in the center and stylized in all capital letters.
Standard edition cover[a]
Studio album by
Coldplay
Released24 October 2011 (2011-10-24)
RecordedNovember 2008 – September 2011
StudioThe Bakery and The Beehive (London, England)
Genre
Length44:09
Label
Producer
Coldplay chronology
LeftRightLeft
RightLeft
(2009) 		Mylo Xyloto
(2011) 		Live 2012
(2012)
Reversible artwork
Singles from Mylo Xyloto
  1. "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall"
    Released: 3 June 2011
  2. "Paradise"
    Released: 12 September 2011
  3. "Charlie Brown"
    Released: 14 November 2011
  4. "Princess of China"
    Released: 14 February 2012
  5. "Hurts Like Heaven"
    Released: 8 October 2012

Mylo Xyloto (pronounced /ˈmaɪloʊ ˈzaɪlətoʊ/ MY-loh ZY-lə-toh) is the fifth studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 24 October 2011. The band worked closely with producer Brian Eno following their successful collaboration on Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008), the band's previous album.

Mylo Xyloto is the band's first concept album, and it also is a thematic rock opera.[6] The album tells the story of a war against sound and colour on the planet Silencia, which has been overtaken by a totalitarian government led by Major Minus, who controls the population through media and propaganda. His aim is to take sound and colour off the streets in hope to draw away "feeders", creatures that use such energy to hunt its prey. The album follows Mylo Xyloto, a "silencer", a soldier in an army tasked to hunt and track down "sparkers", people who harness light and energy and use it to create sparks, comparable to graffiti in real life. He encounters Fly, the sparker most wanted by Major Minus. Through Fly, Mylo discovers his sparker abilities and his affiliation with the Car Kids, a major sparker faction founded by Mylo's parents, Aiko and Lela.[citation needed] Drummer Will Champion has noted that the album is a story of the characters "falling in love and trying to escape together", with a general theme of "love conquering all".[citation needed] In interviews the band have said that the album follows a love story between Mylo and Xyloto, with them being separate characters.[7] However, in the comics based on the album, Mylo Xyloto is the main protagonist and Fly is the sparker girl he encounters.[8]

The album received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its uplifting tone and new electronic sound; however, some found its material bombastic and overproduced. "Paradise" and "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" received a total of three nominations at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, while the album and "Charlie Brown" received two further nods in the following year. Internationally, Mylo Xyloto charted at number one in 34 countries.[9] In the United Kingdom, Mylo Xyloto became Coldplay's fifth album to debut at number one, selling 208,343 units in its first week, and setting a one-week digital sales record with 83,000 copies sold.[10] Mylo Xyloto broke an iTunes record for digital downloads sales by selling over 500,000 digital copies in a week.[11] (Beyoncé's self-titled album and Adele's 25 topped this record in 2013 and 2015 respectively). Mylo Xyloto became Coldplay's third album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 447,000 units in its first week of sales. It was the UK's best-selling rock album of 2011, selling 908,000 copies.[12] The album sold more than 14 million copies worldwide.[13]


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  1. ^ a b Mapes, Jillian (21 October 2011). "Coldplay's 'Mylo Xyloto': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  2. ^ Ferguson, Wm. (14 November 2011). "I Like the New Coldplay. Sue Me". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  3. ^ Thompson, Derek (24 October 2011). "Coldplay's 'Mylo Xyloto': A Hallmark of Feel-Good Pop Rock". The Atlantic.
  4. ^ "NPR – Coldplay's 'Mylo Xyloto'". Npr.org. 12 January 2015.
  5. ^ Wood, Mikael (24 October 2011). "Coldplay, 'Mylo Xyloto' (Capitol)". Spin (magazine). Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Coldplay: Mylo Xyloto is a concept album about love conquering all". NME. 14 October 2011. Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Coldplay: Mylo Xyloto is a concept album about love conquering all". NME. 14 October 2011.
  8. ^ "Interview: Mark Osborne".
  9. ^ Michaels, Sean (11 July 2012). "Coldplay to launch Mylo Xyloto comics". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Coldplay sets digital sales record after snubbing Spotify". What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  11. ^ Halperin, Shirley (3 November 2011). "Coldplay breaks iTunes record by Selling 500,000 Digital Albums in a Week". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  12. ^ "Coldplay, Noel Gallagher and Foo Fighters revealed as biggest selling rock acts of 2011". NME. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  13. ^ "Coldplay's next album will be easier to pronounce". Xposé.ie. TV3 Group. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2017.