Chris Martin reveals how his own personal issues and insecurities contributed to his "conscious uncoupling" from Gwyneth Paltrow in an interview with BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe.

"About two years ago, I was a mess really because I can't enjoy the thing that we are good at and I can't enjoy the great things around me because I'm burdened by this," Martin said. "I've got to not blame anyone else and make some changes."

"I wouldn't use the word breakdown. This was more a realization about trying to grow up basically," he continued. "If you can't open yourself up, you can't appreciate the wonder inside. So you can be with someone very wonderful, but because of your own issues, you cannot let that be celebrated in the right way. What changed for me was I don't want to go through life being scared of it, being scared of love, being scared of rejection, being scared of failure."

The Coldplay frontman seemed to blame himself for the split from his wife of 10 years. "Up to a certain point in my life I wasn't completely vulnerable, and it caused some problems," he said. "If you don't let love really in then you can't really give it back."

The 38-year-old singer then talked about his latest album, which relates to his current life. "So what 'Ghost Story' means to me is like you've got to open yourself up to love, and if you really do, of course it will be painful at times, but then it will be great at some point," Martin said. "I think in life everyone needs to be broken in some way. I think everyone in their life goes through challenges, whether it's love or money, kids, or illness. … You have to really not run away from that stuff. Life throws these colorful challenges at you. … What we decided to do on 'Ghost Stories' was to really be honest about it and say, 'This is what's been happening.'"

Chris Martin continued by explaining his new single, "Magic": "It's about saying this person is really awesome and is magic, and of course certain parts of it have to change because that's life. But not everything has to be black or white or clear-cut, and that's okay."

"It's not a question of you either really love someone or you really hate someone. It's more nuanced than that — especially with the modern world's complications — like traveling and all the stuff that come to life, and illness and addiction and all that sort of thing," he added. "It's just saying ultimately there is magic between two people no matter what anyone else thinks."