MTV and NME pick up Ed O'Brien's diary of Radiohead's next album

Radiohead's next album has no title and no release date, and will be out when it is finished, a representative of Capitol Records, the band's US label, tells MTV News. Ed O'Brien has been keeping a diary of the sessions on the band's website, radiohead.com, and MTV and NME both draw on it today.

O'Brien's entries suggest Capitol has set the band no deadlines, and the representative acknowledges as much. A band spokesperson would say nothing beyond pointing to the website. The tentative plans posted there point to May or June, MTV says, and NME has the album pencilled in for May 2000. NME also says the band are recording in their own Oxford studio with Nigel Godrich producing, and have no plans to play live until next year.

O'Brien posted the first entry) on 22 July, about rehearsals. Phil Selway cracked up during three-part harmonies on “Neil Young *9” because he felt like the drummer in the Eagles.

A f---ing brilliant rehearsal. It's great to be in our band.

Ed O'Brien¹

The low point was 4 August), a day of much talk and little playing, with the band essentially in limbo and, for the first time, nothing to get ready for. In the same entry O'Brien says they have been working on the album since January.

The latest entry), on 9 September, put the diary on a break of a couple of weeks. O'Brien hopes to keep it going through the recording and maybe the touring.

I'm finding it a little difficult to set the right tone, but as I'm not a journo I guess that's fair enough.

Ed O'Brien¹

Working titles in the two reports