Ed O'Brien says Radiohead have been writing new songs

Ed O'Brien has told BBC 6 Music that Radiohead have been writing new songs since coming off the road, and will go into the studio once the touring is done. He spoke on Tuesday night at the Nationwide Mercury Prize, where In Rainbows lost to Elbow. First we came off tour to do some writing and we wanted to just carry on doing it because it was so brilliant.³

The tour ends with six shows in Japan in early October, the last dates the band have booked this year. We've finished the main bulk of it and we're off to Japan in a couple of weeks to finish it off⁴, Colin Greenwood said in the same round of BBC interviews. Uncut took “it” to be the next album, the band's eighth; Beats Per Minute heard him mean the tour, which is what the calendar says.

In Rainbows is the fourth Radiohead album shortlisted for the Mercury without winning, after OK Computer, Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief. Colin called Elbow's win a fantastic decision. We've been on tour with Elbow, we've played festivals with them and they're lovely people.⁶

The Japan dates