{"id":595960,"date":"2026-05-21T10:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/595960\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T10:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:01:09","slug":"ed-obrien-blue-morpho-review-radiohead-mans-beautiful-path-to-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/595960\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed O\u2019Brien \u2013 \u2018Blue Morpho\u2019 review: Radiohead man\u2019s beautiful path to healing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>\u2019s Ed O\u2019Brien<\/a> was in need of all of the above.<\/p>\n

After COVID slammed the brakes on the world around the release of his 2020 debut solo album \u2018Earth<\/a>\u2019, 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.<\/p>\n

That well-earned light radiates throughout \u2018Blue Morpho\u2019, produced by Paul Epworth (Paul McCartney<\/a>, Adele<\/a>, Glass Animals<\/a>). While the carnival-inspired \u2018Earth\u2019 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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The hypnotic, finger-picked acoustic psych-folk of \u2018Incantations\u2019 leads us by the hand to the campfire as O\u2019Brien lays it all out to put \u201cthe ghosts of long ago\u201d that he\u2019s been \u201crunning from\u201d for years to rest in his quest for \u201ca love supreme\u201d. 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<\/a> or a reborn Nick Drake<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Blue Morpho\u2019 ladles on the secret sauce that O\u2019Brien has always added to the Radiohead recipe while providing a tonic for those who need it. \u2018Sweet Spot\u2019 uses his underrated voice as much as an instrument as the gently gliding strings, before \u2018Teachers\u2019 turns things up a notch as a loose and funky wig-out for fans of the smoky jazzier corners of \u2018Amnesiac<\/a>\u2019 albeit with a lot more druggy euphoria. \u201cI\u2019ve lost my way,\u201d he warns, before dancing his way back to it.<\/p>\n

The warming and ambient instrumentals of \u2018Solfeggio\u2019 and \u2018Thin Places\u2019 both feel like dawn before O\u2019Brien concludes that \u201csunny days are waiting me\u201d on the sprawling beach-ready 10 minute closer \u2018Obrigado\u2019, going from Balearic banger to chillwave soundscape to a proggy Pink Floyd<\/a>-esque guitar and howl release. This is the sound of healing, with Ed O\u2019Brien out of his cocoon and in dazzling flight.<\/p>\n

Details<\/p>\n

\"Ed<\/p>\n

Release date:\u00a0May 22, 2026
\nRecord label:\u00a0Transgressive<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A blue morpho is a stunning butterfly native to Brazil, with a life cycle so dramatic that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[25065,96,3583,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-595960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-alternative","tag-entertainment","tag-indie","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}