Kaleidoscope EP

On 21 November 2016, lead singer Chris Martin announced the EP title on the band's official Twitter account, it is the same as an interlude track from A Head Full of Dreams (2015). The release was originally due to 2 June, but it was delayed to 30 June and then 14 July without any previous announcement from the band.

Commercial singles

The Chainsmokers and Coldplay collaborated on the lead single "Something Just Like This", which was made available on 22 February 2017. For the extended play, a new version titled "Tokyo Remix" was recorded live in Tokyo, Japan in April and released on 23 June.

Promotional singles

The band revealed "Hypnotised" and the track listing of the EP on 2 March 2017. "All I Can Think About Is You" came out on 15 June as the second offering, with an accompanying lyric video directed by I Saw John First. On 7 July, following Coldplay's performance at Global Citizen Festival Germany, they launched "Aliens" as a charity single, with all profits being donated to the Migrant Offshore Aid Station. The animated lyric video was directed by Diane Martel and Ben Jones. On 14 July, "Miracles (Someone Special)", featuring Big Sean, was sent to Italian radio stations as a promotional single. A visualiser debuted in the following day.

Kaleidoscope EP debuted at number 15 on the US Billboard 200, with 24,000 equivalent units. In Japan, it debuted at number 25 with 2,797 physical copies sold.

Upon release, Kaleidoscope EP received positive reaction from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 63 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Reviewing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine comments "Coldplay haven’t entirely been sucked into the machinery while trying to subvert pop music from within", giving the EP three and a half stars.

Harriet Gibson of The Guardian gave the EP three stars, writing "This EP is nothing but on-brand, however; euphoric emotion, an earnest, universal message and a coating of tacky charm". Mark Beaumont of the NME wrote "Coldplay don’t just churn out anthems. On their surprise-filled new EP, they test the waters and see what floats", and gave the EP four stars. Pitchfork's Jamieson Fox gave the EP 5.8 out of 10, writing "Kaleidoscope isn't going to kickstart Coldplay’s critical reappraisal, nor does it deserve to. But it rewards those of us who've stuck around with a few songs that capture the band at its best".

Writing for PopMatters, Mike Schiller comments "There’s no story to be told, just a small collection of tunes, some of which work beautifully, some of which fall utterly flat", giving the EP five stars out of ten, and Jon Dolan, reviewing for Rolling Stone wrote "Titled after a soothing interlude from the band's 2015 LP, A Head Full of Dreams, this five-song EP continues that album's mood of tranquil satisfaction" giving it three and a half stars.

All tracks are written by Coldplay except where noted.

Notes

• "Hypnotised" is 6:31 long on digital releases, but 5:55 on physical editions, same as the promotional single version.

Coldplay

• Chris Martin – lead vocals, piano, keyboard, acoustic guitar on "Miracles (Someone Special)", "Aliens" and "Hypnotised"
• Jonny Buckland – guitars
• Guy Berryman – bass, keyboards
• Will Champion – drums, percussion, keyboards, electronic drums, backing vocals
• Phil Harvey

Additional musicians

• Big Sean - rapping (on "Miracles (Someone Special)")
• Brian Eno - additional guitar, and vocals (on "Aliens")
• The Chainsmokers - additional instruments (on "Something Just Like This")