Coldplay are ready to show off their first new music since 2011’s chart-sweeping album “Mylo Xyloto.” The British alt-rock band recorded a song for the “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” soundtrack, titled “Atlas,” that Republic Records will release on Aug. 26.
It is the group’s first original song contribution for any motion picture. “Catching Fire,” in theaters Nov. 22, is the second installment in the “Hunger Games” series; the first film grossed nearly $700 million at the worldwide box office.
The soundtrack for the first film, which featured Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars, among others, topped the Billboard 200 album chart last year and won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin is apparently a fan of the books, written by Suzanne Collins, according to news release on the song.
“We are so honored that Coldplay, one of the iconic rock bands of our generation, will perform the first song out on the new soundtrack,” said Tracy McKnight, Lionsgate’s Head of Film Music. “Knowing that Chris Martin is a fan of the books makes this even more meaningful. The Coldplay single underscores the stature of recording artists we’ve assembled for this powerful soundtrack.”
Coldplay have released five studio albums, the latest being 2011’s “Mylo Xyloto,” which reached No. 1 in 34 countries and yielded six singles, including “Paradise” and “Princess of China” featuring Rihanna. Martin and company, who formed in the mid-nineties and broke out with the 2000 hit “Yellow,” are said to be working on a sixth album. “I’ve been writing songs and I’m so fired up about the band’s future,” he told the Daily Star in the UK in November.
