Today, Ed O’Brien has Blue Morpho, which is his absorbing second solo album and first under his own name, out on May 22, through his new label home, Transgressive. O’Brien likes to quote the Kentucky poet and farmer Wendell Berry: “To know the dark, go dark.” That philosophy became both compass and catalyst for Blue Morpho , which is a deeply personal album produced by Paul Epworth (Paul McCartney, Adele), born from one of the most challenging periods of his life.
Though he remains one of rock music’s most lauded guitarists, Blue Morpho finds O’Brien beginning anew, finally starting to figure out his approach. With its moments of hypnotic psych-folk, radiant guitars, beguiling trip-hop and luminous stillness, it reveals an artist moving beyond familiar structures and feels like map of O’Brien navigating exciting other ways to listen, work and live. He steps into the dark, and emerges renewed, evident on the stunning and uplifting “Blue Morpho,” inspired by the healing effects of nature.
In other news, NME.com has reported that Ed O’Brien has revealed plans Radiohead to hit the road again in 2027 and beyond. The Oxford group returned to the stage in the UK and Europe last year, marking their first live shows together since 2018. They played a run of 20 arena concerts across five cities, including four nights at London’s O2.
Blue Morpho Track List
1. Incantations
2. Blue Morpho
3. Sweet Spot
4. Teachers
5. Solfeggio
6. Thin Places
7. Obrigado
Photo Credit Raymond Flotat
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