These new songs – all debuted live in recent months but not yet released in studio versions – suggest Coldplay's forthcoming album may be more gritty, fun, strange and (yes) danceable than any so far: a Zooropa to the Unforgettable Fire of 2008's Viva la Vida. "Hurts Like Heaven" opened their Lollapalooza set with a word rush that occasionally recalled LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends," plus some outstanding guitar asides. Broadcast on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, "Charlie Brown" (not the Coasters' 1959 hit, alas) triangulates Springsteen, U2 and Arcade Fire in a hood-rat oratorio that roars even if Chris Martin's delivery feels too genteel. "Us Against the World" (debuted at the Rock am Ring festival in Germany) is an anthemic ballad with sweet harmony vocals from drummer/secret weapon Will Champion. Most interesting may be "Princess of China," with a dubby drum track so huge, it apparently blew out all the bootleggers' mics in Nuremberg.

Listen to "Us Against The World":

Related
• Coldplay's "Hurts Like Heaven": Three and a Half Stars
• Coldplay's "Charlie Brown": Two and a Half Stars
• Coldplay's "Princess of China": Three Stars
• Photos: Coldplay and More at Lollapalooza 2011
• Photos: Coldplay's Live Spectacle
• Video: Coldplay Performs 'Charlie Brown' on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'
• Video: Coldplay's 'Every Teardrop is a Waterfall'

“Everyday People”

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.