Listen to Beyoncé's new collaboration with Coldplay, Hymn for the Weekend

The singer provided guest vocals for a track on Coldplay's new album.

Beyoncé has provided guest vocals for Coldplay's Hymn for the Weekend (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Beyoncé is a featured artist on Coldplay's seventh (and possibly final) album A Head Full of Dreams, out 4 December.

The artist graciously provided vocals for "Hymn for the Weekend", which received its first airplay on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show. It's pretty clear the track's intended to be Coldplay's strongest grab yet for club anthem glory, running down the checklist of necessary declarations as those trademark Coldplay twinkles weave in and out of thudding bass lines and a soaring, heady chorus. "Drink for me, drink for me." both Chris Martin and Beyoncé bellow over what sounds very much like the clinking of champagne glasses.

You'd think bagging one of the most iconic voices in the music world would call for a change in tactics, but what's surprising about "Hymn for the Weekend" is just how little Beyoncé features. Sure, she's got some control over the song's intro and outro pieces, with her repeated wish to "let me shoot across the sky"; but she still spends the rest of the record essentially acting as a backup singer. The band's bassist, Guy Berryman, insists it was "never supposed to be a duet." And that's the core problem, it should have been a duet. Come on, guys. Never waste a good Beyoncé. 

Berryman, speaking to Annie Mac after the song's debut, also remarked on the star's absolute efficiency and professionalism in the field meaning she was "in and out in five minutes". Well, with so little to do, that might not be so surprising. 

"A Head Full of Dreams" will have some tough competition when it finally drops on 4 December. Though the buzz currently surrounding the band is huge, especially after hints this may be their last album, they'll be having to contend with the runaway success of Adele's 25.