Ed O’Brien Announces New Album Blue Morpho, Shares Title Track: Stream

2 hours ago 4

Ed O’Brien of Radiohead has announced a new album, Blue Morpho, out May 22nd via Transgressive. He’s also shared the album’s title track along with a trailer for the record’s accompanying short film.

Blue Morpho serves as O’Brien’s second solo album and his first under his own name; his last effort was 2020’s Earth, released under his EOB moniker. He crafted Blue Morpho with producer Paul Epworth during a particularly challenging period of his life, taking inspiration from the Kentucky poet Wendell Berry’s quote, “To know the dark, go dark.” He also was inspired by his experiences in the Welsh countryside, the breathing and cold exposure teachings of Wim Hof, and his bandmate Thom Yorke’s advice to store away songwriting ideas and revisit them at a later date.

With a six minute runtime, “Blue Morpho” is a majestic and harmonious entry point to O’Brien’s forthcoming album. There’s a significant emphasis on strings and orchestration, the song blooming with lush tones and a great deal of warmth as O’Brien’s voice fades in and out of the mix. The peaceful and utopian nature of “Blue Morpho” feels much closer to depicting healing than it is to depicting the emotional pain O’Brien was feeling, lifting his mood like the sun emerging through thick clouds. Stream “Blue Morpho” below.

O’Brien also crafted an accompanying short film titled Blue Morpho: The Three Act Play. The film premiered at South By Southwest this week and will be released with the new album on May 22nd. Watch the official trailer below.

In addition to readying his new album, O’Brien recently wrapped up another tour with Radiohead, and hinted at more shows with the band in the future: “What we’re going to do is, every year we’re going to do a different continent, and we’re going to do 20 shows each year. No more, no less,” he said to Rolling Stone. “We want to give absolutely everything each night. We do not ever want it to be like we’re going through the motions or we’re having to run on empty. We’ve got to be able to do it. And you know what? We’re not spring chickens anymore.”