Chris Martin and Pharrell Williams record track for Global Citizen
Some people might have frowned today when they heard the new track by ‘Los Unidades’ featuring Pharrell Williams. “That sounds an awful lot like Coldplay”, they must have thought. Los Unidades is a side project by Chris Martin, created to release some new music for his Global Citizen Festival. He wanted to make sure these new tunes are not confused with new Coldplay material, although his band members are all credited as writers on ‘E-Lo’, the first single of a four track collaboration EP. The Global Citizen Festival, curated by Martin, will take place in South Africa this year to honour Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday. ‘E-Lo’, featuring Pharrell Williams and Jozzy, feels like a swinging trip around the world.

The Los Unidades track has a decent amount of Coldplay-isms going on. Not only Martin’s characteristic vocals remind us of his band’s signature style, but so do the bombastic elements in the production, the build up and the songwriting. It is a massive tune though that mixes styles seemingly effortlessly. The track starts out with just Martin’s vocals and then turns into a contemporary EDM production, to then incorporate elements from African and Latin music. The result is a swinging, uplifting tune that delivers insanely catchy hooks and chanting that will invite the audience to join in. ‘E-Lo’ will undoubtedly set the stage on fire at the Global Citizen Festival. The sun’s gonna shine on them!