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The Guardian AUGUST 21, 2009 - by Sean Michaels
NATALIE IMBRUGLIA'S ALBUM WRITTEN BY CHRIS MARTIN AND BRIAN ENO, SORT OF
The Coldplay frontman and the maverick producer appear on the credits for the singer's comeback album.
Earlier this year, Chris Martin wrote what he called "the best Coldplay song ever" - and then he gave it away. Three Martin-penned tunes, including one developed with Brian Eno, will appear on the upcoming album by Natalie Imbruglia.
Imbruglia, best known for her two years on Neighbours, will return on 5 October with her first album in four years. The Australian singer had almost finished the LP, called Come To Life, when Martin got in touch and convinced her to go back into the studio. "[It] was an opportunity that was too good to refuse," she told BBC 6 Music. "I had to get rid of some songs and rejig the track-listing but he was really, really helpful with all of that and brutally honest with me which was great."
In the end, Martin wrote two songs for Imbruglia and helped rework one more. One of the tracks was Luaka, an unfinished Coldplay tune from their Brian Eno-produced sessions last year. "They'd been working on that track for [Viva La Vida], but it didn't end up making it on to the record," Imbruglia said. "so that's why Brian's name is on my album, which is amazing, but he actually wasn't there in the room when I did my version of it, it was Chris."
Martin also contributed a song called Fun. "[When] he sang it to me, I nearly did one of those ugly cries because it's so beautiful," she said. This is the song Martin described as a possible Coldplay hit, one that he said he half-wished he hadn't given her. "It's really big, lots of strings," Imbruglia said. "I feel very lucky to have it and he's not having it back."
Imbruglia's best-known single, Torn, was also written by someone else - Los Angeles band Ednaswap.
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