Touring Coldplay Eyes Follow-up LP

February 19 -- As British pop sensation Coldplay makes waves as the band tours North America in support of its debut, Parachutes, bass player Guy Berryman tells Wall of Sound that the quartet is already well prepared to record its follow-up.

"We've already got most of the songs for the next record all written," Berryman says. "They're a lot stronger and we know how to work in the studio better because we've got the experience, and we've got some stronger ideas about how they should sound."

The band flew straight from playing the annual Big Day Out tour in Australia into Vancouver, British Columbia, for its first show on Feb. 8. The group also played on NBC's Late Night With Conan O'Brien Friday night, and it will play an April 7 gig on Saturday Night Live.

Despite the critical success, not to mention a hit single in the winsome paean "Yellow" (when it was released in the band's homeland last summer, the song reached No. 4 on the U.K. singles chart; currently it is placed at No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100), Coldplay does not intend to promote the album with any more touring beyond the summer.

"We're going to come back to America in the summer," says Berryman. "Plus we've got a pretty short U.K. tour [17 dates in April] and a pretty short European tour. Apart from that, that's going to be it."

The band is planning on taking a two-month break after all touring duties end. After that, Berryman says the band will begin recording, hopefully, before Christmas, with a view to releasing its as-yet-untitled sophomore effort halfway through 2002.

Berryman is very optimistic that the next record will top the Mercury Prize-nominated Parachutes, adding, "If it all comes together like we hope it will, then it will be a much better record."