Released 8 June 2007 (Mexico) Genre Alternative rock | Recorded 2004 Length 5:28 | |
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Label Parlophone, EMI, Capitol Writer(s) Guy Berryman
Jonny Buckland
Will Champion
Chris Martin | ||
"White Shadows" is a song by British alternative rock band Coldplay. It is the third track on their third studio album X&Y (2005) and released as the sixth overall single from the album on 8 June 2007. The song was co-produced by the band and their long-time producer Ken Nelson, while it was engineered by Rich Costey. "White Shadows" also features musical contributions by Brian Eno, who plays synthesizers on the track.
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Background
In September 2006, it was announced through a question and answer section on Coldplay's official website that "White Shadows" would be the fifth single released from X&Y in Australia; this would have been the sixth song overall to be released from the album, followed by "The Hardest Part" and "What If". Weeks later, it was reported on the band's official message board that releases of both "White Shadows" and a DVD of a June 2006 performance in Toronto had been cancelled. No reasons were ever given. Although "White Shadows" was not released as a worldwide single, the song was released as a single in Mexico in June 2007 to coincide with the Latin American leg of their Twisted Logic Tour.
Critical reception
"White Shadows" received generally positive reviews from music critics. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the line "part of a system I am, I am" from the chorus is a reference to the band's "celestial" sound. Michael Hubbard of MusicOMH assumed that the "system" referred to in the song was "Capitalism ... with fair trade fluffiness attached", commenting that Chris Martin does not write songs for a "specialist audience". Adrien Begrand of PopMatters described "White Shadows" as "terrific" and noted that it "draw[s] slightly from Berlin-era David Bowie".