Co-produced by the group along with Paul Epworth and Mylo Xyloto collaborators Dan Green and Rik Simpson, it was their first album to be distributed by Atlantic in North America, as Coldplay were transferred from Capitol Records in 2013 after Universal Music purchased EMI and all of its assets in the previous year, a transaction which ultimately required the sale of Parlophone to Warner Music.

Originally conceived by the band as a "stripped-down, more acoustic collection",[2] it became one of Coldplay's most experimental and pop-oriented records to date, being described as "luxuriously colourful"[3] where "the choruses are bigger, the textures grander [and] the optimism more optimistic.

Coldplay's subsequent world tour in promotion of Mylo Xyloto visited North America, Europe, Australia and Africa, raising $99.7 million in revenue.

At the 2013 Brit Awards, drummer Will Champion spoke to Jo Whiley of BBC Radio 2 fame, saying in response to a question about Coldplay's sixth album being more stripped-back: "Yeah, that might be nice, actually.

The creation of the album actually started at Guy Berryman's house in London in early 2013 where he had settled a little studio where everyone gathered to jam and try some new music during a break after the band's big tour for Mylo Xyloto.

There were lots of songs but that was the first point where I thought, "Everyone is invested in this, everyone knows what we're trying to do; go a bit more personal".According to producer Paul Epworth, the band recorded the album mostly on their own, while his direction helped in "trying to avoid going for any of their obvious clichés".

[15] The medieval art-driven artwork, measuring 100 by 100 cm, features a pair of angel wings imposed onto a painting of an ocean under a sky at night.

The images include a couple in love, a man facing a mirror, a flight of white doves, a circular maze, a girl by candlelight, a window looking out onto an incoming tornado and a garden plant with a ladder, amongst other imagery depicted in the artwork.

Fürstová, whose work has been described as "dazzling images [that] are both contemporary and personal, searching in the surreality of dreams, tales and fables that can map the framework of our consciousness",[17] and has won numerous awards, including the Royal College of Art Society Award in 2001 and becoming the youngest academician at the Royal West of England Academy in 2009,[18] was invited by Coldplay to etch artwork for their new album in January 2013.

The notes, handwritten by Martin, were placed in ghost story books in libraries around the world, with the band tweeting clues leading to their locations.

One of the hidden envelopes also contained a special Golden Ticket, allowing its finder and their guest to go to London for the Coldplay concert at the Royal Albert Hall in July.

[25] A TV special titled Coldplay: Ghost Stories was filmed 21–23 March 2014[26] by the Grammy-nominated director Paul Dugdale (Adele, The Rolling Stones) on a custom-built stage in a Sony Pictures movie soundstage in Los Angeles.

The show, which included cinematic vignettes and 360-degree projections, was attended by an audience of 800 fans and press, and was broadcast in prime time in several countries in May and June 2014.

"[32] Coldplay was also the musical act for 3 May airing of NBC late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live and performed "Magic" and "A Sky Full of Stars".

Similar to "All Your Friends", the song is available on the A Sky Full of Stars EP and on the Target deluxe edition of the album is the U.S. Ghost Stories received generally positive reviews.

"[64] Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly commented that Ghost Stories "will likely be remembered as a transitional album" and noted that "while being solid, it feels like a prequel to something better".

[59] Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork wrote that the album is a "subdued work that finds Chris Martin and his band crisply moping through mid-tempo soundscapes and fuzzy electronic touches that have the visceral impact of a down comforter tumbling down a flight of stairs.

"[62] Nick Hasted of The Independent wrote that Martin "accepts his loss too meekly to approach the anguish of a great break-up album", but concluded that the band's "step away from grand platitudes is still one in the right direction".

[61] Stephanie Benson of Spin wrote that "its deep sea of synth-encrusted pop glistens under a halo of angelic ambient touches and Martin’s ever-rosy perspective.

"[11] Jerry Shriver of USA Today felt that "within the realm of memorable breakup albums", Ghost Stories lacked "the confessional gut-punch of Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, the acrimony of Richard and Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights and the irresistible sonic appeal of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours", ultimately describing it as "not even a particularly memorable Coldplay album".

[65] While noting that Ghost Stories "should be applauded for scaling back the gaudy excesses of their previous albums", Consequence of Sound's Josh Terry opined that its songs "suffer from a lack of direction" and "could use the vitality that launched them to the top in the first place".

[66] Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The nine songs on Ghost Stories hum gently, cultivating an effective sense of intimacy.