British rock band Coldplay picked a unique way to mark the release of their latest single Higher Power on Friday – by beaming up into space.

The rock group, known for hit songs such as Paradise and Viva la Vida, connected up with the International Space Station (ISS) to talk with French ESA space explorer Thomas Pesquet about existence in space.

They also shared a recorded outdoor performance of their new song, featuring colourful alien holograms dancing to the tune, to Pesquet, who played it locally available on the ISS.

“Right now we aren’t able to play for anybody on Earth, so we thought we’d just play for you,” lead singer Chris Martin to Pesquet during their chat, a video of which was shared on Friday. “It’s like our one-man concert.”

On bands, Twitter page band wrote last week that the song, produced by Swedish songwriter and producer Max Martin, “arrived on a little keyboard and a bathroom sink at the start of 2020”.

Coldplay will open following week’s BRIT Awards, Britain’s popular music honours, with an exhibition of Higher Power on the River Thames close to the ceremony’s O2 arena venue in London.

They are also set to perform at Glastonbury’s live stream show on May 22 after the celebration’s usual Greenfield music event was dropped again this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.