Here’s the brand new song from Coldplay, an upbeat though somehow still melancholy gem called Adventure Of A Lifetime. It’s a precursor to the band’s soon-to-be released seventh album A Head Full Of Dreams (out December 4) which is rumoured to be Chris Martin and co’s last.

I don’t believe them. At least I don’t want to believe them. Shamelessly I’m a fan of Coldplay. They understand better than any band of the past 20 years the magic and possibilities of pop music. Since embracing more electronic and dance sensibilities in their music from their third album (2005’s X & Y) Coldplay have battled a backlash from sensitive rock fans who feel anything other than pure rock is somehow an inferior genre. What a shame because I’d argue most of the greatest acts in music history – from the Beatles to the Stones to the Bee Gees to Bruce Springsteen to Stevie Wonder to U2 – have all been able to encompass multiple genres.

Adventure Of A Lifetime (co-written and produced by ace Norwegian hit-makers Stargate) almost sounds Brazilian in some of the effects throughout the track, almost as if Nile Rodgers had discovered a lost track from Paul Simon’s Rhythm Of The Saints (1989).

The lyrics are fairly simple, but the repetition of “you make me feel like I’m alive again,” is a big hook and I can imagine this being the soundtrack to many a summer’s or tropical night on the beach as the sun goes down. Maybe it’s the presence of minor chords, maybe it’s the unusual sonics, but Adventure Of A Lifetime feels like it has bit more emotional depth than other recent dance-flavoured Coldplay songs like A Sky Full Of Stars.

In short, I love it. I just wish I was sitting on a Southeast Asian beach to really appreciate it.

UPDATE DECEMBER 14: The official video has now been released for Adventure Of A Lifetime and for not the first time Coldplay have gone for a lighthearted tone on film. The jungle vibe I was picking up is there with the band donning CGI / Andy Serkis-like dots to create their dancing apes. Here it is: