Ed O’Brien Addresses Radiohead’s Future, Saying “There is No Radiohead at the Moment”

As Radiohead’s output has slowed down in their veteran years, fans have started questioning the band’s future. Their last full-length studio release, A Moon Shaped Pool, was released back in 2016, but that doesn’t really mean they’re done because the album before that came after a five-year gap too.

During an interview on the Lineup podcast, bandmember Ed O’Brien addressed these concerns, stating that the band isn’t currently working together and doesn’t have any plans to so for now: “There’s no Radiohead at the moment.”

“It might happen, but the other thing is … it might not,” he said about the possibility of future projects. “And does that matter?”

“There’s a truth to what we do,” he continued. “So we’re not going to be one of those bands that gets together for the big payday.”

“The thing with Radiohead, we could do something in a couple years. We might not,” he added. “But I think what it has to be, it has to be five people going, ‘I really want to do this again with you.’ And I think at the moment, because we’ve done it for so long, we’re all reaching out and having different experiences. And that should be allowed, and that should be encouraged.”

Despite the uncertainty, O’Brien didn’t in any way suggest that the band has broken up, but that they’re all simply focusing on different things at the moment: “It could be that it doesn’t happen. I’m sure it will do. I’m almost certain that it will do. But you’ve got to also be able to be fine with it not happening again.”

Since Radiohead’s last tour in 2018, O’Brien released his debut solo album, Earth, in 2020, and has another album planned for later this year according to Consequence. On other news, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood also put out their debut album as part of supergroup called the Smile titled A Light for Attracting Attention.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat

Karan Singh: I am an Indian American music journalist based in Los Angeles. My interests include (but aren't limited to) hip-hop, punk, rhythm & blues, rock and traditional world music. After working in the publishing industry as a copy editor for nearly three years, I decided to switch professions and become a writer. I have a bachelor's degree in English from UC Santa Cruz and a master's degree in Specialized Journalism from the University of Southern California. My aim as a writer is to explore the forces that energize creativity. I've always felt a natural pull toward the arts and entertainment space, and my stories seek to magnify the facets of its adjoining cultures.
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