Chris Martin: Ghost Stories - a 'honest' album

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin says that the divorce from Gwyneth Paltrow was "more a realisation about trying to grow up" than a breakdown.

"I wouldn't use the word breakdown, this was more a realisation about trying to grow up, basically. Like I said, if you can't open yourself up, you can't appreciate the wonder inside. So you can be with someone very wonderful, but because of your own issues you cannot let that be celebrated in the right way.”

"What changed for me was – I don't want to go through life being scared of it, being scared of love, being scared of rejection, being scared of failure. Ever since our band came out, we have been a very polarising group because we do a certain thing very well … About two years ago I was a mess really because I can't enjoy the thing that we are good at and I can't enjoy the great things around me because I'm burdened by this – I've got to not blame anyone else and make some changes."

The singer said that the problems that occure in one's life are necessary: "I think in life everyone needs to be broken in some way," he said. "I think everyone in their life goes through challenges, whether it's love or money, kids, or illness … You have to really not run away from that stuff. Life throws these colourful challenges at you … what we decided to do on Ghost Stories was to really be honest about it and say, this is what's been happening."

He added that the new album, Ghost Stories, addressed the fact that "you've got to open yourself up to love and if you really do, of course it will be painful at some times, but then it will be great at some point," and that there was a time in his life when he was not "completely vulnerable, and it caused me some problems. If you don't let love really in then you can't really give it back."