Speaking to The Sun (for a piece given the unfortunate title “Chris Martin hires a Barack Star”), Martin said that a snippet of one the most iconic moments of the Obama presidency will appear on the band’s upcoming album (which was given the unfortunate title A Head Full of Dreams).
“We have a tiny clip of the president singing ‘Amazing Grace’ at that church,” Martin told The Sun. “Because of the historical significance of what he did and also that that song being about, ‘I’m lost but now I’m found.’” Coldplay apparently had to clear the sample with both the White House and Emanuel AME Church. Obama, a dad who likes dad music, has repeatedly claimed to be a Coldplay fan. This summer, for instance, he put their song “Paradise” on a Spotify playlist.
In interviews, Martin has said that A Head Full of Dreams will be the band’s last album. Aside from Obama, it will feature an impressive array of guests, including Beyoncé, Brian Eno, Noel Gallagher, Blue Ivy Carter, Moses and Apple Martin, and Martin’s ex-wife, Gwyneth Paltrow. All it needs is a wasted, buffoonish Van Morrison and it’ll be Coldplay’s The Last Waltz.