Radiohead‘s Ed O’Brien has shared a hypnotic new single ‘Incantations’ and announced a serious of UK ‘In Conversation’ events.
The guitarist is due to release his solo album ‘Blue Morpho’ on May 22 via Transgressive (pre-save here). So far, he’s released the sprawling title track, released at the same time as the album announcement back in March.
Now, O’Brien has shared the second taste of the album, the hypnotic psych-folk single ‘Incantations’.
Alongside the new single, O’Brien has also announced a series of ‘In Conversation’ events, to accompany the screening of his short film, Blue Morpho: The Three Act Play. There will be three Q&As held in May at Leeds’ Crash Records (23), Cardiff’s Jacaranda Records (24) and London’s EartH Theatre in partnership with Rough Trade (26).
Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday (24 April) – get yours here.
Alongside his ‘In Conversation’ events, O’Brien is also due to appear at the Great Escape festival as a speaker. He will speak alongside Nadine Shah, where they will discuss mental health in partnership with the CALM charity.
O’Brien is also due to tour with a collective of musicians who performed on the LP’s recording sessions, including musical director Dave Okumu and ESKA.
Billed as ‘An Evening With… Blue Morpho’, O’Brien, Okumu and ESKA will deliver “a fluid and immersive experience – a celebration of the music in which each performance will evolve and take on a life of its own”.
See all dates below and buy your tickets here.
Ed O’Brien’s European and UK tour dates for 2026 are:
OCTOBER
04 – Royal Theatre Carré, Amsterdam, Netherlands
06 – Teatro Lirico, Milan, Italy
08 – Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
10 – Admiralspalast, Berlin, Germany
12 – Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany
14 – Oosterpoort Main Hall, Groningen, Netherlands
16 – Barbican, London, UK
We last spoke to O’Brien for his debut solo album in 2020, where he told us whether he had compared notes with frontman Thom Yorke.
“No, I haven’t. How do you ask one of the best frontmen for advice?,” he told us. “I probably should the next time I see him! It’s funny – I don’t think any of us have sought advice from each other on our external projects. We just do our thing.”
In other news, Radiohead are set to play “20 shows each year” on a different continent from 2027, according to Ed O’Brien.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, O’Brien confirmed the indie rock legends will play more shows in the near future – following their highly successful live return last year, their first since 2018.
“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,” O’Brien told the outlet.
He also told Consequence that Thom Yorke is set to release an album this year, saying: “What’s so lovely is it feels they both can coexist,” he said. “The Radiohead thing can go out and tour – and that’s the mothership, I guess, for all of us. But we’ve got these little satellites.”
