The EP’s opening track was released as a promotional single ahead of the Kaleidoscope release. Dan Green, the band’s longtime audio engineer, is credited as a producer and adds keyboards to All I Can Think About Is You. He also has production credits on A Head Full Of Dreams, including a composition credit on hidden track X Marks The Spot.

A collaboration with rapper Big Sean, Miracles (Someone Special) is Coldplay’s second song called Miracles, and was referred to as Miracles 2 before the subtitle announcement. The original Miracles was written for Angelina Jolie’s film Unbroken and released in 2014. The track features a sample from Back To The Future, Chris Martin’s favourite film.

A L I E N S dates back to at least 2009, where it was recorded during the Mylo Xyloto sessions. A track with the working title Alien Radio existed during those sessions, but it’s unknown whether that did in fact become A L I E N S (there is a lyrical reference to a radio in the track). Brian Eno and Markus Dravs, who produced Mylo Xyloto, are credited on the track (Eno as a composer), and a remix by Dravs was released in addition to the EP version.

Coldplay’s collaboration with The Chainsmokers was mostly written during Chris Martin’s first meeting with the duo. The group found a series of chords they liked, and Chris “freestyled for an hour”. Something Just Like This was the result. The version on Kaleidoscope is a live recording from the band’s A Head Full Of Dreams tour in Tokyo.

Hypnotised was announced alongside Kaleidoscope, and the first music released from the extended play. The release announcement coincided with Chris Martin’s birthday. The version of the track on the EP has an extended ambient piano intro.