Coldplay gettin' busy

GHOST BUSTING: Looks like manager Dave Holmes has been working overtime of late, because activity is picking up noticeably in advance of the release 5/19 release of Coldplay’s Ghost Stories (Parlophone). Second single “A Sky Full of Stars,” a collab with Avicii, made its initial appearance Tuesday on YouTube and will be available to download on Friday (5/2). That brings the instant-grat tally to three, with lead single “Magic” and ambient album track “Midnight” also triggered by pre-ordering the album. Additionally, Chris Martin previewed the mellow track “Always in My Head” during an interview with the BBC; it’s streaming here. The band performed a fifth song, “Oceans,” in the BBC Radio 1 Lounge last week. Moving right along, Target has the exclusive on a deluxe physical edition of the album featuring three bonus tracks. The band will do Saturday Night Live this weekend and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon next Tuesday (5/6), and the hour-long special Coldplay: Ghost Stories will air on NBC on Sunday, 5/18, the eve of release. Finally, and most unconventionally, Coldplay have announced that Martin’s handwritten lyric sheets for all nine songs from the have been hidden in libraries in nine countries worldwide. Clues to the exact locations of the lyrics will be posted on the band's Twitter account using the hashtag #lyricshunt. One of the hidden envelopes also contains a Golden Ticket, giving the finder (and a guest) a free trip to London to see Coldplay perform at the Royal Albert Hall on 7/1. (4/30a)