Coldplay on mission to connect with fans

"Of course we want to sell a lot of records," Martin says. "But we want to get right back to the root of everything, by saying, 'Here you go, have a song, have a concert.' All that other stuff we have to do because we're in contract, that's all going to happen, of course, but it's just starting from that place. It makes us feel good as a group of people."

Drummer Will Champion adds, "More than ever, you've got to give people a reason to be excited about music. With content being so available, you just want to give people as much as possible."

Coldplay will stage free gigs June 16 at Brixton Academy and June 23 at New York's Madison Square Garden. Another free show in Barcelona is expected to be confirmed soon.

The concerts will be unsponsored, and Martin points candidly to a similar stage of the band's previous campaign to explain why.

"We felt last time we f---ed up so royally in New York when we were setting up 'X&Y.' We did an AOL thing, which was fine to do, but we tried to mix it with a buzz gig and we just came across as a huge and very impersonal corporation.

"So this time we want to do the ultimate buzz gig and have it not attached to anything or anybody. We're all very nervous because no one's done it before and it's a bit risky. When we first got asked to close (the) Glastonbury (festival) in 2002, it was a similar feeling of something a bit bigger than we felt we could do. But we really like that challenge."

The free shows will be followed by extensive touring throughout 2008 and beyond. Roughly 50 shows are planned for North America, followed by Europe and the United Kingdom. Coldplay will also headline the Summersonic festival August 9-10 in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. More international touring is on tap for 2009.

'OUR OWN PLACE'

On the new album, produced by Brian Eno and Markus Dravs, Coldplay sounds like a band quite certain of its creative course. The set was recorded during a deliberate period out of the limelight for the band, and in particular for Martin, who's ever keen to discourage media attention to his marriage to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.