An exclusive digital EP version of it, with the B-sides "Major Minus" and "Moving to Mars", came out in the following weeks, being considered the band's eighth extended play.

[10] They also played it at the Steve Jobs memorial event at Apple headquarters on 19 October 2011 in Cupertino, California, and at the opening of the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 6 November 2011.

'I turn the music up, I got my records on, I shut the world outside until the lights come on' Martin sings over buoyant synths, ringing guitar and big drums.

[1] Rolling Stone gave the song a three and a half stars rating out of five commenting "Chris Martin says Coldplay's upcoming album is influenced by old-school New York graffiti, and in a recent photo the bandmates are dressed in neon chillwear like they just walked off the set of Breakin' 3: A Brit-Pop Odyssey.

Over a rave-tinged keyboard melody, leavened by producer Brian Eno's rainforest-of-the-soul ambiance, Martin sings of kids dancing until morning and heaven inside his headphones.

"[14] MTV praised the song by declaring that "Modern rock behemoths Coldplay just previewed the first single off their upcoming Brian Eno-produced fifth studio album, and it's every bit as soaring as we've come to expect from the band".

'Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall' is unlikely to be hailed as an instant classic to match the very best of Coldplay's past work, but a strong argument could be made that the band has never released their best material as the first single from any of their albums".

Rolling Stone said: "The vibrant, colorful clip is well-suited to the song, which has a shaky, excited energy and the sort of optimistic, romantic lyrics that have made Coldplay one of the world's most crowd-pleasing rock bands".