If you think Coldplay is an odd choice to play the halftime show at Super Bowl 50, you shouldn’t.

It’s in keeping with the extroverted and adventurous journey the quartet first embarked upon when they set about making their seventh album, the dance-happyA Head Full of Dreams.

Following 2014’s subdued Ghost Stories, the band is “in the mood to party again,” bassist Guy Berryman says.

The fact that the new record is “eclectic” and strives for a “maximalist sound” makes Coldplay circa 2015 a natural fit for the biggest sports event in the world.

Postmedia Network caught up with Berryman down the line from Italy as he talked about the band’s big ambitions and whether A Head Full of Dreams will be Coldplay’s final album.

Ghost Stories was a bit of a bedtime record. How did the four of you find your way back to bigger sounds and soaring melodies in A Head Full of Dreams?

“When we made (Ghost Stories), it didn’t feel like the right time for us to make another big album … we were in the mood for changing gears a bit and doing something that was a bit more subdued with a bedtime kind-of vibe. But now, we knew we were going to be going out and playing live. We wanted to create songs that would work really well in the arenas and stadiums.”

There are a lot of cameos on the record, including Noel Gallagher, Beyonce, Gwyneth Paltrow and Barack Obama. How did those come about?

“We wanted to make it a colourful album. There’s a lot of different ideas and styles, so it was us taking every paint in the shop and throwing it at the canvas … We just wanted to incorporate more of our lives onto the record; all of our kids sing on one of the songs; most of our friends are playing on the record. We’ve done so many records where all of the ideas come from us. And, in the spirit of changing things up again, we just wanted to welcome in other people and make something different.”

You guys broke big in 2000 and here we are 15 years later. Did the four of you imagine this kind of success?

“When you’re starting a band, you’re on a mission. For us, at the beginning, it was about getting together, writing some songs, playing some shows, getting a record contract, being allowed to make another album, perhaps start playing in arenas and stadiums, so the mission was very clear. Something we struggle with these days — and it’s a luxury problem — is answering the question: What do we want to do now? Where do we want to go? Where do we want to be in five or 10 years’ time? That’s not so obvious.”

When did you know you’d made it?

“There have been a few moments along the way. I think one of the earliest ones was when our song Yellow came out on the radio station and it turned into a popular single. We were playing at a festival in Scotland in the ‘New Bands’ tent and I could see the sides of the tent being pushed in by everyone trying to get in to see us. There just wasn’t enough space for everyone to get in and watch, and I could feel the energy. That was an amazing moment — our single on the radio and people really connecting with the song. I think the second was when we headlined Glastonbury for the first time (in 2002) … That was a milestone for us as well.”

You guys are battling it out with Adele on the charts right now. What do you think of her new record?

“I haven’t listened to it yet. It’s the story of my life. If everyone’s telling me how amazing something is, and I see the whole world getting involved in something, it turns me off. At school, when everyone was listening to Stone Roses and Oasis, I listened to Stax and Motown records. But I love Adele. I’m not saying she doesn’t make great records, I just haven’t heard it yet.”

What's your favourite Coldplay record?

Everyone seems to think our second album (A Rush of Blood to the Head) is our best album, as time goes on and things start to fall into place it seems to be that that’s everyone’s favourite. It’s a good album, for sure. But I don’t know, I can’t judge. It’s like trying to choose your favourite child. It just shouldn’t be done.

Chris Martin has said this will be Coldplay’s final record. Any truth to that?

“He’s said that on every album. We should know by now that’s what everybody’s going to ask us when we do our promo (laughs). Who knows? Even we don’t know. We can’t think beyond this album. We just finished it, we’ve got a big tour lined up and we can’t think beyond that. We had a really good experience making this record; it was a lot of fun. We all got along with each other. I don’t see any reason we’d want that to end … I think it’s easy to come up with a statement, ‘This is our last album,’ because we’ve done a lot of things we set out to do. Now we’ve got to try and figure out what else we’d like to do.”

Twitter: @markhdaniell

mark.daniell@sunmedia.ca