A previously unheard Coldplay demo intended for a James Bond film has resurfaced after more than 26 years and will be sold at auction. The acoustic track, written for the 1999 Bond movie The World Is Not Enough, is part of a collection of early recordings from the band's archives being offered by Wax Poetics.
Chris Martin's candid admission about Bond themes
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin previously revealed that the band had written five potential Bond themes but never submitted them because they were "not very good." In an interview with NME, Martin joked that James Bond "probably wouldn't be into our music at all" and that he doubted their singing would "do it for him." The band eventually abandoned the idea, accepting defeat.
What the auction collection includes
The auction features original DAT mixes, alternate versions, and demos from the The Blue Room sessions, including unreleased versions of several songs and a previously unheard take of "We Never Change." Also included is an original nine-track cassette given to producer Chris Allison before recording began, containing some of the band's earliest known recordings and two previously unreleased songs.
Chris Allison, the British producer, mixer, and engineer who worked on Coldplay's earliest professional recordings, said: "This is a window into the writing, recording, production and promotion of some uniquely celebrated music artists – pieces of music history that deserve to be in the hands of fans, not gathering dust in a storage unit."
The legacy of James Bond theme songs
The James Bond franchise has a storied tradition of iconic theme songs. Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" became the first Bond theme to reach number one on the US charts (and number two in the UK) for the 1985 film of the same name. More recently, Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die" and Sam Smith's "Spectre" both topped the UK charts. Adele's "Skyfall" peaked at number two upon its 2012 release.
Martin's comments on Bond themes came during a discussion about his admiration for Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell, admitting he felt "absolute furious jealousy" upon first hearing Eilish's breakthrough hit "Ocean Eyes."
