Coldplay Reassure Fans With New Album

Coldplay have quashed speculation they are on the brink of splitting by revealing details of a new "edgier" album.

The band - who warned at the Brit Awards earlier this month (15FEB06) "People are fed up with us and so are we" - will signal their commitment to the group by setting up their own recording studio in London.

The move was inspired by German collaborators on their latest X+Y album, Kraftwerk, who have their own studio to keep outsiders away and distractions to a minimum.

Drummer WILL CHAMPION says, "We're trying to find somewhere where we can set up and work.

"In all these years we haven't got a HQ, our own studio or anything like that. We want somewhere where we can sort of hole up and see what happens."

And bassist Guy Berryman hopes the intense recording experience will provide the perfect opportunity to take Coldplay's music to a different level.

He says, "I don't want to generalise it and say 'We're going to become electronic' because I don't think we are going to become truly electronic.

"I think there's going to be elements of lots of things. It's hard to say, all the ideas are just spinning around inside my head and I've got a lot of new toys to play with.

"I always like our next record to be a bit harder sounding. Not rock harder just edgier. We'll always have melody."