Well, this just made your Christmas shopping a little bit easier. Our own Alex Young may have called it a couple of weeks ago, but a fan site – Coldplaying.com – is now reporting that the band’s fifth LP definitely won’t be hitting the shelves in 2010. Coldplaying.com member Craigy-J attended a London fan meet where he says frontman Chris Martin told him that the band is “close to finishing lots of songs,” but “has not actually finished anything at all.” According to Billboard, former manager Phil Harvey also confirmed the delay, and said that the gap between the release of a new album and a subsequent tour would be “slightly longer” this time around.

The news is somewhat surprising considering that the band had debuted new songs as early as March. And while bassist Guy Berryman does have a new side project, Spinner.com also reported that Coldplay had so many ideas for the follow up to Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends that they had to literally put a load of them on a shelf that Martin couldn’t reach. Maybe the band just has problems finishing the job. Either way, it looks like you’re going to have to settle for the unfinished version of “Wedding Bells” to hold you over for now. C’est la vie.

Image via Yorkblog.com