Recordings from Coldplay's embryonic professional phase are heading to auction following a producer's decision to sell materials collected during his work with the nascent band. Chris Allison, who engineered and mixed the group's 1999 extended play release, has assembled a collection of original master tapes, alternative mixes, and demo recordings created during their initial studio sessions in London.

The sale's most fascinating element is an unreleased bare-bones recording wherein Chris Martin composed and performed what he envisioned as a submission for the 1999 James Bond film 'The World Is Not Enough'—a role that instead went to Garbage's recording. The wider archive illuminates the development of melodies and arrangements that would define the band's breakthrough first album, showcasing preliminary renderings of material that evolved considerably before reaching audiences in their polished, commercially distributed form.