A blue morpho is a stunning butterfly native to Brazil, with a life cycle so dramatic that the creature has come to represent transformation, growth and starting over to many, with some believing that one might grant you a wish if you happened upon it. Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien was in need of all of the above.
After COVID slammed the brakes on the world around the release of his 2020 debut solo album ‘Earth’, released under his initials EOB, he found himself lost in the quiet with his mind reflecting the catastrophe across the world and a lifetime of neglected trauma and pent-up problems. In a deep depression, he turned to the nature that surrounded his rural Welsh home and the refuge offered him by songwriting to feel his way back towards the light.
That well-earned light radiates throughout ‘Blue Morpho’, produced by Paul Epworth (Paul McCartney, Adele, Glass Animals). While the carnival-inspired ‘Earth’ was tender folk meets blissed-out danceability, this follow-up loses none of that kaleidoscopic wonder but comes with a lot more ruminative space and the feel of a lush landscape in widescreen.
The hypnotic, finger-picked acoustic psych-folk of ‘Incantations’ leads us by the hand to the campfire as O’Brien lays it all out to put “the ghosts of long ago” that he’s been “running from” for years to rest in his quest for “a love supreme”. The title track then floods the record with colour as he drifts above the swooping and cinematic orchestration with all the cool zen collection of an Oxford-born Beck or a reborn Nick Drake.
‘Blue Morpho’ ladles on the secret sauce that O’Brien has always added to the Radiohead recipe while providing a tonic for those who need it. ‘Sweet Spot’ uses his underrated voice as much as an instrument as the gently gliding strings, before ‘Teachers’ turns things up a notch as a loose and funky wig-out for fans of the smoky jazzier corners of ‘Amnesiac’ albeit with a lot more druggy euphoria. “I’ve lost my way,” he warns, before dancing his way back to it.
The warming and ambient instrumentals of ‘Solfeggio’ and ‘Thin Places’ both feel like dawn before O’Brien concludes that “sunny days are waiting me” on the sprawling beach-ready 10 minute closer ‘Obrigado’, going from Balearic banger to chillwave soundscape to a proggy Pink Floyd-esque guitar and howl release. This is the sound of healing, with Ed O’Brien out of his cocoon and in dazzling flight.
Details
- Release date: May 22, 2026
- Record label: Transgressive