It's heartwarming when Western artists learn a couple of Arabic words to utter at concerts when they're in the region. It's not the end of the world to attempt a marhaba (hello) or bahebkoum (I love you) and it makes the audience a forever fan of the singer.
For the 23-year-old British rock band Coldplay, to embrace a culture is to become the culture. It remains unclear how this came to be or what's the ulterior motive behind this move, but the Yellow group is delving in the Arabic language head first with their upcoming eighth album.
Let's start with the album's cover
Titled Everyday Life, with the translation in Arabic featured as well, the band started off with an appealing album cover to attract the eye of any Arab or Arab speaker.
Then comes a couple of songs to add to the odd equation
Before the official release of the album - scheduled on Nov. 22 - the band gifted the world two singles ... and yes, one is related to our region.
Arabesque and Orphans, which are now available online with an official video for the latter, are brought to us with a vision of a jazzy feeling holding hands with folklore tunes on a breezy summer evening.
Though Arabesque is formed of minimal lyrics in English along with their French counterparts (more or less) sung by Stromae, it has a unique sound to it with words as simple as the alphabet yet very profound. In its official lyrics video, a simple "salam wa hobb" meaning "peace and love" is written in the top right corner.
Another song on the album has bolder Arabic features, with its name being Bani Adam (Child of Adam; human being) and written in Arabic.
A billboard in Amman, Jordan?
Several billboards promoting the band's upcoming album were spotted across Jordan's capital Amman.
The visuals are all simple; composed of the album's cover with a text in the center mentioning the release date. But if you look closely, the date itself seems odd ... "November 22, 1919." Should fans ready their time machines for a little trip back to a century ago?
Another puzzling aspect of the billboard is the lack of a name or introduction for the band. Unlike modern publicity, the Fix You musicians seem to either be confident they'll get recognized in Jordan or have a little game in mind.
The pièce de résistance for this mysterious campaign? Ads in newspapers around the region
Everyday Life will be released on Nov. 22 in two parts, Sunrise and Sunset, and will have a limited edition 7-inch vinyl for both parts. It seems as though Coldplay went "old school" with this album, as the band went a step further - or should I say a step back? - with their marketing campaign by promoting and releasing the track list in newspapers just like the good ol' days.
Ads in Gulf News and Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad were spotted by readers, showing the songs listed under both parts of the double-album.
In an interview with BBC's Radio 1, lead singer Chris Martin confirmed the album's title had been on his mind for a good 10 years. Inspired by the band's travels and tours, Everyday Life has snippets from recordings Martin had taken randomly throughout his travels.
Well, we certainly have the answer now ... or maybe half of it?
Coldplay just announced they will be performing live in Jordan on Nov. 22, the day of the album's release. And yes, it will be 2019 not 1919, so put back your time machines and let's see what this live-streamed performance of the double-album is all about.
If you're interested, like us and everyone else, YouTube revealed it will host the streaming of Sunrise at 4 a.m. GMT and Sunset at 2 p.m. GMT as part of a partnership with the band.
"These two broadcasts have been our dream since we first started work on this album. It's a bit impossible and a bit scary, like all the best dreams. YouTube is the perfect home for it," Coldplay said in the statement announcing the move.