Let’s face facts.  Coldplay will, in most respects, always be the little brother to U2, Radiohead and others (Travis, perhaps) from the UK music scene.  Don’t get us wrong, Chris Martin and cohorts have written some beautiful, impossibly-catchy songs over the last decade plus, and certainly can put on a big-top live show.  But Coldplay is never going to be high on the list of the most-inventive, most-influential outfits (at least compared with the aforesaid bands).  To wit, the band will next month release new album Ghost Stories.  We’ve all heard the first tracks from the album, Midnight and Magic, and we at Chez Lefort were soundly unimpressed by the songs and even more concerned than normal about the artistic vitality of the band’s new album.

Thankfully the band has today shared another, better song entitled Oceans via a live performance for BBC Radio 1, which you can listen to/watch below.   The song is particularly compelling given Martin’s recent high-profile split with wife Gwyneth Paltrow.  Check out Martin below singing about a failing relationship amid spare, tasteful backup by the band.  His pain is palpable (Paltrowble?).

The band also announced today the release of Coldplay: Ghost Stories, a 60-minute special that will be broadcast on NBC on Sunday, May 18th that will mesh live video with “360-degree imagery.”

Check out Oceans below.