Coldplay released their EP Prospekt's March in 2008. The extended play arrived in Europe and Japan on 21 November 2008, followed by releases in other territories later that month.
The EP grew out of recording sessions for Coldplay's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Several songs were completed too late for the album's final track list, so the band gathered them into Prospekt's March rather than leaving them unreleased. Chris Martin described the songs as belonging to the same musical family as the album.
Prospekt's March contains eight tracks, including “Life in Technicolor ii”, “Glass of Water”, “Rainy Day” and “Lost+”, a collaboration with Jay-Z. It was also packaged with a deluxe edition of Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, which helped connect the EP to that album's expansive, art-rock era.
The title is sometimes confused with the album itself, but Prospekt's March is a separate extended play. Its artwork uses Eugène Delacroix's The Battle of Poitiers, echoing the historical imagery of the parent album's cover.