A Head Full of Dreams

There’s a blissful lack of restraint to the multi-layered neon pop of Coldplay’s seventh album. The carnival kicks off within 20 seconds of the opening track and allows only the most fleeting of (Barack Obama-narrated) sit-downs as the extent of their ambition is joyously unfurled. It’s the sound of a band liberated: free to recruit Beyoncé for vocal duties on the euphoric “Hymn for the Weekend,” trade sweet nothings with Tove Lo for “Fun”’s hazy holiday romance jam, and talk Noel Gallagher into a (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?-sized guitar solo on the hymnal “Up&Up.”