Last week, legendary Brit-Pop band, Coldplay, released their ninth album, Music of the Spheres. Sonically, it is nothing short of a soulless, chart-topping collection of radio-ready singles. Their final single before the album drop, "My Universe," featured the undeniably monumental Korean-Pop giants, BTS, and was Coldplay's first number one song since "Viva La Vida" in 2008. Is it bad music? Not necessarily -- "Higher Power" was one of my favorite songs of the summer, but in comparison to Viva La Vida-era Coldplay, it's nothing but lacking.
Perhaps most noteworthy in the band's rollout has been the announcement of their world tour. Lead singer Chris Martin stated years ago that the band would not commit to a globe-trotting stadium tour until an eco-conscious plan could be formulated. Now, it seems like they've created some sort of program that the band was comfortable with for the foreseeable future.
Following a link on the band's front page of their website, one can find a comprehensive list of their new Sustainability Initiative. In short, the band has done their research; The site acknowledges their statement in 2019 and what followed, including their personal research team dedicated to calculating the band's carbon footprint from their most recent tour.
Highlights of the initiative include: planting and protection of a tree for every ticket sold, biofuel-based power, low-energy LED screens on-stage, a mobile app that encourages fans to cut their carbon emissions travelling to the show (and rewards them for doing so), plant-based and meat-free concession options, and a list of "good causes" that the band has donated to and will continue to donate to. All-in-all, a very impressive first swing at a sustainable world tour.
Yet, it feels almost outrageous that Coldplay is pioneering the environmentally-friendly world tour -- we've seen (or at the least talked about) other models from other artists. With the announcement of her third album, Lorde revealed she would not be producing any CDs of Solar Power, fearing they would end up in a landfill in but a few years, but was fine printing thousands of vinyl variants. Additionally, she would be touring "natural" and "outdoorsy" venues. No mention of carbon-emission offset or recycled vinyl material made this seem well-intentioned but unproduced.
Regardless, the content of Lorde's album opened the door for more artists to discuss nature and what's at stake in the ongoing battle against climate change. Artists like Billie Marten explored similar themes in a more genuine, intimate way on her 2021 LP, Flora Fauna.
And before Marten, Irish indie-folk crooner, Hozier, romanticized the end of the world vis-a-vis icecaps melting on his sophomore album, Wasteland, Baby! His rocker, "No Plan", takes aim at the space race to colonize Mars rather than protect the Earth (a movement commonly referred to as "No Planet B").
What could truly change, what impact might actually be had, if leaders of Generation Z charged forth brandishing the flag of environmental stewardship? If Kanye, Taylor Swift, or Justin Bieber actively spoke out about these issues? If they gave a small portion of their millions towards environmental protection rather than throwing their weight behind the billionaire Elons and Jeffs?
I think the baseline question is, why don't more artists discuss environmental impact in their music? I don't have a good answer besides the obvious (money), but maybe one of our readers has a better clue.
Coldplay's new program isn't perfect -- there's very few people doing eco-responsibility at top-efficiency -- but perfect isn't the point. Martin, et al, have created a formula for major headliners to follow in the future. If artists like Lorde and Hozier are committed to the cause, then surely they'll not only adopt Coldplay's model, but improve upon where they're able.
In the meantime, I encourage interested readers to explore the causes Coldplay lists on the link above. And for our Kentucky readers, Black Soil provides a great local produce service and the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth wesbite lists a number of ways you can get involved in environmental sustainability around the state.
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What environmentally sustainable changes would you like to see huge artists make and commit to? Sound off below in the comment section or holler at us on Twitter!
- Ritter
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