2000 has really been the year that, for real music fans as opposed to those who simply blindly follow trends, British music has really stood up to attention again. With the likes of Six By Seven, Primal Scream, Asian Dub Foundation, doves, Badly Drawn Boy, Muse, Babybird, Richard Ashcroft, Belle and Sebastian, Looper and Oasis having already released album, and with the likes of Radiohead, Mansun, Placebo, Pulp and Fatboy Slim to hopefully release albums by the end of the year, it’s been a bumper crop. Add the very English sounding four-piece Coldplay to that list, and it improves even more.

Coldplay are constantly compared to Jeff Buckley. Ignore that. Read this and heed it well: Parachutes sounds nothing like Jeff Buckley. If any unfair comparison was to be levelled against their debut album it would be that it does sound vaguely familiar, much in the same way that Travis’ The Man Who record was disturbingly familiar. And like that record, Coldplay are not out to change the world of rock ‘n roll: they do care about their music, but mostly they just care. A lot. And in Chris Martin they have an incredibly gifted vocalist and lyricist.

Sure, he’s typical of most of his British counterparts in that he’s depressed over a love gone wrong – “I look in your direction, but you pay me no attention” (the opening lines to first single and second track “Shiver”) attests to that. Elsewhere there’s “For you, I bleed myself dry” (from second single “Yellow”), “I never meant to do you harm” (from “Trouble”) and also “If you ever feel neglected, and if you think that all is lost, I’ll be counting up my demons, and hoping that everything’s not lost” (from the final listed track, “Everything’s Not Lost”). It’s obvious that this young lad has seen his share of misery in such a short amount of time. But it’s more through how he says it rather than what he says that is what makes Parachutes such a delight.

Like Fran Healy from Travis and unlike, say, Matt Bellamy from Muse or even Thom Yorke from Radiohead, Martin knows that it is through restraining his voice from soaring at every possible moment that when it does – as on album highlight “High Speed” – is when the listener will be more captivated and drive them back to the record again and again. But like Travis, Coldplay could be accused of playing sedated music – there’s none of the venom of Muse or Radiohead on offer here, simply beautiful lament after beautiful lament.

It’s frightening to consider the talent on offer during Parachutes. Whilst the focus is primarily on Martin’s voice – as it should be, when you can sing like he does – the rest of the band contribute a valuable role to the overall sound of the record. Whilst songs like “Don’t Panic” (along with “High Speed”, previously released on the blue room e.p.), the gorgeous “Spies”, “Sparks” and “We Never Change” are primarily based around Martin’s voice and an acoustic guitar, they would not be the same without the rest of the band.

Parachutes is an accomplished debut, not least because it is restrained and subtle. The production duties – handled by Ken Nelson – have given it a warm hue that lasts for a suitably short forty-two minutes. It’s the perfect length, and a comfortable one at that. Whereas Thom Yorke appears to be tortured by the world around him, Martin offers something that the listener can relate – human emotions at the most basic level. Undoubtedly Parachutes will leave some cold – but those same people are probably the ones who can’t see the inherent joy in The Man Who. Parachutes is an entrancing, beautiful and highly enjoyable debut album, and one that offers a great deal of promise for things to come.