COLDPLAY frontman CHRIS MARTIN has told NME.COM the band are disappearing for a while because "we've got to reinvent the wheel".

The band completed a gruelling 18-month world tour at the V Festival earlier this month (August16/17), and are now going to get straight to work on the follow-up to 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head' away from the public eye.

Martin said: "We’ve got to reinvent the wheel, basically. I think we have to hide away and get out of people’s faces and cook things up again. We’re not going to take any time off, we’re just going to be working, working, working, like the mole in 'Wind In The Willows'! V Festival is going to be the death of soft rock."

Guitarist Jonny Buckland added: "I agree with Chris. It is the end of an era for the band. We've taken our songs as far as they can go and it's time for something different. I don't know where what we're going to do. It's hard when you've been touring for 16 months. Don't get me wrong - I love touring, but I just want to stay in a place for longer than a couple of days."

Of the new songs the band has been playing - 'World Turned Upside Down' and ‘Poor Me’, Martin said: "One of them's shit, one of them's good. We're going to dump the shit one but keep the good one."

Before they get their time off, the band will make a trip to South America for a handful of gigs in Brazil and Mexico, and Martin will do some charity work for Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign.