"Aliens" (stylised as "A L I E N S") is a song by British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

. It was written by all four members of the band along with

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

, who also handled the production with

Markus Dravs Markus Dravs is a British music producer, songwriter, programmer, engineer and mixer. His credits include Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Wolf Alice, Björk, Brian Eno, Sheep on Drugs, Merz, Mumford & Sons, Hozier, Florence + the Machine, The Maccabe ...

and

Rik Simpson Rik Simpson (a.k.a. Rikademus) is a British record producer. He is most recently recognised for his production work with Coldplay on ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008), ''Mylo Xyloto'' (2011), '' Ghost Stories'' (2014), '' A ...

. The track was released on 6 July 2017 as a

charity single A charity record, charity album, or charity single is a recording with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. In 1956, The Lord's Taverners released a 78 rpm disc which contained six tracks donated by popular artis ...

and the third excerpt from Coldplay's thirteenth EP ''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a symmetrical pattern when viewed fro ...

'' (2017) after " Hypnotised" and " All I Can Think About Is You". The proceeds from the song were donated to the international NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station, which rescues migrants and refugees in peril at sea in the Mediterranean. On 21 July, a remix by

was released.

Critical reception

Jeremy Gordon of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' magazine wrote: "The skittering percussion and swirling electronics that open up the song are completely dissimilar from the EDM components they picked up on the way to their regrettable successful Chainsmokers collaboration; the spooky tones permeating the spaces in between Martin's indefatigably earnest vocals sound like background music from an ''

X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to May 19, 2002, on Fox, spanning nine seasons, with 202 episodes. A tenth season of six e ...

'' episode. The song is constantly in motion, as all the elements pulse and hum in the same direction. It's cluttered, but not distracting. Martin's lyrics, which address the refugee crisis, lean hard on the maudlin side, which is not an unfamiliar space for the band to be." Althea Legaspi of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine wrote: "The song's pulsating rhythms emulate the racing heartbeat that might accompany searching for safety in a bleak world." Bianca Gracie of Fuse called the melody "blippy" and "space-age". Darragh Berry of '' Joe'' wrote that the song has "the distinctive Coldplay sound" and called the lyrics "deep" and "meaningful".

Music video

The animated lyrics video was directed by

Diane Martel Diane Martel (also known as Bucky Chrome and Diamond Martel) is an American music video director and choreographer. As a music video director, she has worked with Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Sting and Jennifer Lopez. One of her ...

and Ben Jones. It shows a family running from explosions on the ground and foreboding creatures in the sky, as they escape from a planet.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

Guy Berryman Guy Rupert Berryman (born 12 April 1978) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, producer, businessman and designer. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band Coldplay and electronic supergroup Apparatjik. Raised in Kirkcaldy, he starte ...

– composing, keyboard, bass guitar *

Will Champion William Champion (born 31 July 1978) is an English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer and percussionist of the Rock music, rock band Coldplay. Raised in Southampton, he learned to play numerous instruments during his yout ...

– composing, keyboard, drums, programming *

Jonny Buckland Jonathan Mark Buckland (born 11 September 1977) is a British musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Pantymwyn, he started to play guitar at an early age, taking ins ...

– composing, electric guitar *

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...

– composing, vocals, keyboard, acoustic guitar *

– composing, producing, background vocals, guitar *

– producing *

– producing, background vocals, mixing * Chris Allgood – mastering engineering *

Emily Lazar Emily B. Lazar is an American mastering engineer. She is the founder, president, and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, an audio mastering facility that has operated in New York City's Greenwich Village since 1997. She won a Grammy Award for ...

– mastering engineering * Daniel Green – co-producing, engineering, keyboard * Anthony De Souza – engineering * John Metcalfe – engineering, strings, viola, violin, recording * Bill Rahko – engineering * Laurence Anslow – assisting * Aleks Von Korff – assisting * Tom Bailey – assisting * Owen Butcher – assisting * Andrew Rugg – assistant engineering * Robin Baynton – assistant engineering * Davide Rossi – cello

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Animated music videos Coldplay songs Music videos directed by Diane Martel Parlophone singles Song recordings produced by Brian Eno Song recordings produced by Rik Simpson Songs written by Brian Eno Songs written by Chris Martin Songs written by Guy Berryman Songs written by Jonny Buckland Songs written by Will Champion