Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien shares details of new album Blue Morpho

Ed O’Brien, best known as guitarist in Radiohead, has announced a new solo album titled Blue Morpho, set for release on 22nd May.

The record marks his second solo outing, following his 2020 debut under the moniker EOB. This time, O’Brien releases music under his own name, suggesting a more direct and personal approach to the material.

The announcement arrives after a busy period with Radiohead, who spent last year touring globally with a career-spanning set. While those performances revisited the band’s past, Blue Morpho looks firmly inward, shaped by reflection and a desire to move forward creatively.

O’Brien has pointed to a guiding idea behind the album, quoting writer Wendell Berry: “To know the dark, go dark.” That sentiment runs through a record that explores memory, transformation and the process of confronting difficult experiences.

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Produced by Paul Epworth, Blue Morpho moves across a wide sonic palette. At times it leans into trip hop textures and expansive atmospheres, while elsewhere it strips back into more skeletal, folk-leaning compositions.

The album also features a number of notable collaborators. Shabaka Hutchings contributes flute, following a meeting at Glastonbury Festival, while Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits arranged string parts performed by the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra.

Recording sessions took place between O’Brien’s studio in Wales and The Church in North London. Flood assisted with sequencing, and Ben Baptie handled the final mix.

Alongside the album, O’Brien has also overseen a companion short film titled Blue Morpho: The Three Act Play, which premiered at SXSW this week. The project expands the album’s themes into a visual format, further underlining its conceptual scope.

Blue Morpho arrives on 22nd May.

Tracklist

1. Incantations
2. Blue Morpho
3. Sweet Spot
4. Teachers
5. Solfeggio
6. Thin Places
7. Obrigado

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