The song was written by the band's four members, Federico Vindver and Denise Carite, and it was produced by Max Martin,[4] with co-production by Oscar Holter and Bill Rahko.

During an interview with Mark Savage of BBC News, lead vocalist Chris Martin, said that the song just dropped out the sky: "I came up with the title first, but struggled to find the melody and lyrics to go with it.

[11] On 23 April 2021, a post from an account titled 'Alien Radio FM' on social media released a set of coordinates (51°30'24.6"N 0°08'34.4"W) that led to Green Park in Piccadilly, London.

[24] The official video was revealed to be the first as part of a three-part "melodic orbit", entitled Music of the Spheres, which was, at the time of release, rumoured to be the title of their ninth album.

Their heads are instantly covered with blades and they hover in the air, giving Chris a powerful energy, and the rest of Coldplay members (Will Champion, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland) appear.

[28][29] Coldplay included the song, along with a track titled "Human Heart", on their set for Glastonbury Festival's special livestream event on 22 May, which was filmed at Worthy Farm.

[34] On 23 October, Coldplay opened their set with "Higher Power" during Audacy's 8th annual We Can Survive charity concert held at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.

Ella Kemp from NME rated the song 4/5 stars and noted that it "takes everything Chris Martin and co. have learned from a lifetime of dreaming and finally launches their talent into outer space – literally.

[8] Halle Kiefer from Vulture noted similarities with Steve Winwood's "Higher Love", while also complimenting the song by saying that "[in] comparison, 'Higher Power' wins out by a few hundred kilometers".