... As part of an experiment with producer Brian Eno; band blogger stresses 'this does not indicate any kind of split.'
By James Montgomery

Coldplay's Chris Martin
Photo: George Pimentel/WireImage

After their last record debuted at #1 in 17 countries, sold nearly 7 million copies worldwide and landed them seven Grammy nominations Coldplay clearly decided it was time to shake things up. So, they did.

While in their West London studio working with Viva La Vida producer Brian Eno on a batch of new songs, they decided to ban frontman Chris Martin from the studio.

Why? Well, because Eno, renowned for his innovative approaches to recording (which in the past have included musicians playing instruments they don't know how to play), wanted to try a little experiment.

"Chris has been banned from the studio for these first two weeks," the band — or, more specifically, the mysterious "mole in the studio," Roadie #42 — wrote in a post on Coldplay.com. "Now, before the rumor mill cranks its way excitedly into life, this does not indicate any kind of split in the camp. This is an experiment of Brian's.

"Rather than have Chris's demo recordings come in fully-formed, leading the songs in a particular direction, Will, Guy and Jonny are constructing their own musical underpinning with little idea of what Chris had in mind. For many of the tracks, they hear nothing but the vocal track," the post continued. "The fact that this is such a crazy way of going about things seems to encourage them to go off in deliberately strange and adventurous directions. Often, they come in first thing in the morning and listen to Chris's idea once, before going out into the live room and working up something based purely on how the song 'felt' to them on first listen."

The post goes on to say that the new songs are "wider, more vivid and even more daring" than anything the band have previously committed to tape, with drummer Will Champion creating drum loops on his laptop, and guitarist Jonny Buckland playing riffs through an old Moog synth he's hooked up to his guitar rig.

"Everyone is away from their assigned roles and it's as though playing the 'wrong' instruments has given them the freedom to play fearlessly like kids," the post said. "Like a new band that's just got together. The results are quite astounding."

Oh, and before you get too worried, the post points out that Martin isn't taking his exile badly. Rather, he's up the road at another studio, writing songs with a mysterious "other artist."

It's not exactly clear what the band are doing with Eno. Cutting another EP? Working on a brand-new album? When asked for comment, the band's spokesperson told MTV News that she has "no additional information, other than what was posted."

Coldplay will perform at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night.

Will Lil Wayne grab all the gramophones? Is Katy Perry going to tell her girl rivals to kiss off? Can Coldplay march off with a win? MTV News is all over the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, so stay tuned for interviews, analysis and more before, during and after the big night, Sunday, February 8.

• Coldplay