Chris Martin Opens Up About 'Ghost Stories' and Songwriting

It seems as though the emotional dust has finally settled since Coldplay's Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow famously "consciously uncoupled," and the Britrock champion has had a new album and scores of live performances to keep him busy since their split. Ghost Stories offers up dance tracks (like the Avicii-assisted "Sky Full of Stars") and slow jams ("Magic," which has been covered by both Brandy and Rita Ora at this point) in equal measure, and according to Martin, people either love the record or hate it. He isn't really listening to what the critics have to say about Ghost Stories as the album is exactly the one Coldplay felt compelled to make.

"It's a strange one," he says of Coldplay's sixth and latest record. "I don't feel the need to praise or defend it. It's something that we had to do in the line of our albums, so I don't really think of the reception to it."