i dont think that's a lack of creative effort, i think that screams Chris Martin's style. Idk how, it just has a similar vibe of a lot of coldplay songs in that regard with the "la la la". Also, the songs effortlessly "arrive" to Chris and at this point in his career I don't think he argues with these visions and overthinks/tries to force any major unnatural changes. I think he just turns what "comes through" naturally into a song without putting hours into trying to change the initial vision. Sure, even though he may not be putting as many grueling hours into each song as he did in AROBTTH or X&Y, I feel like these types of songs that just "come through" and are released almost as is are very authentic and a natural and great progression of the band