Coldplay nearing completion of fourth album

NEW YORK (Billboard) - English rock band Coldplay is nearing completion of its fourth album, due in the first half of 2008.

"It feels like a very dense record," reads a post on the band's Web site (www.coldplay.com). "There are so many melodies and colors packed into a relatively short space (42 minutes)."

The post says two new songs, "Famous Old Painters" and "Glass of Water," are now in the mix, joining previously announced songs such as "Lost," "Cemeteries of London," "Violet Hill," "Poppy Fields," "42," "Yes!," "Leftrightleftrightleft" and "Rainy Day."

"As you'd expect with (producer) Brian Eno, there's experimentation and exploration," it says. "But the music still has integrity. It's real and honest. There's no posturing or bombast."

"When the deadline comes and the work is done, this will be the album I always dreamed we'd make," it concludes.

The as-yet-untitled new album is the follow-up to 2005's "X&Y" (Capitol), which topped The Billboard 200.

Reuters/Billboard