Early Coldplay Recordings and Unreleased Chris Martin Bond Demo to Be Auctioned

A collection of early Coldplay recordings is set to go under the hammer this week through Wax Poetics. The archive features studio tapes, demo recordings and alternate mixes from the band's earliest sessions that helped shape its debut album, Parachutes, giving fans a rare chance to hear Coldplay before its global breakthrough.

Most of the archive comes from British producer, mixer and engineer Chris Allison. It focuses on Coldplay's "Blue Room" recording sessions at London's Orinoco Studios, captured not long after the group signed with Parlophone.

According to the auction house, the recordings capture the creative period that eventually led to Parachutes. Included is "High Speed," the only song on the album that was not produced by Ken Nelson, with Allison handling production himself. The track first appeared on the Blue Room EP, Coldplay's debut Parlophone release in October 1999, before later being recorded again for the album.

The collection also features original DAT mixes, previously unreleased alternate versions, an unheard recording of "We Never Change," and a nine track cassette containing some of Coldplay's earliest known material. Two of the songs on the tape have never been officially released in any format.

One of the archive's most notable pieces is an acoustic demo that Chris Martin recorded while pitching for the title track of the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. The theme was ultimately awarded to Garbage, whose "The World Is Not Enough" became the film's official song. According to Wax Poetics, Martin's recording has never been released or publicly documented.

"This is a window into the writing, recording, production and promotion of some uniquely celebrated music artists – pieces of music history that deserve to be in the hands of fans, not gathering dust in a storage unit," Allison said in a statement.

The recordings capture Coldplay at the very beginning of its journey. Released in July 2000, Parachutes reached No. 51 on the Billboard 200, later earned double platinum certification in the United States and won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. The band's career continued to soar from there, producing multiple Billboard 200 chart toppers and becoming one of the biggest stadium touring acts of the modern era.

The broader Alt/Indie, Rock & Pop auction also includes items connected to the Beta Band, the Wedding Present and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Bidding remains open through July 19, with part of the proceeds benefiting Restore the Music, a charity that provides instruments and equipment to under resourced state schools.