Last month, Coldplay began teasing a new project called “Alien Radio” with a series of mysterious symbols. Within hours, the code was cracked by fans and internet sleuths, who discovered that the band would be releasing a song called “Higher Power” on May 7.
Now that it’s May 7 in certain parts of the world, the Max Martin-produced track has been released, and it’s out of this world (in a literal sense). Rather than dropping a simple lyric video or clips from quarantine, the Goop divorcee and crew partnered with French ESA astronaut (and current mission commander on the International Space Station) Thomas Pesquet to broadcast a special performance of the song from space itself.
The recorded performance (appropriately titled “Extraterrestrial Transmission”) comes complete with holographic dancing aliens while the band jams in an industrial lot surrounded by shipping containers. Alongside of the outer space-themed premiere, Chris Martin and friends also revealed an extremely long-distance conversation that they had with Pesquet in the buildup to the release.
Not including their Apple Music exclusive Reimagined release from last spring, the track is the first new music from the titans of mom-friendly piano-driven pop-rock since 2019’s Everyday Life.
Check out the new track below.