Ed O'Brien says writing Blue Morpho was his therapy

Ed O'Brien says Blue Morpho, the second solo album he put out in May, deals with a depression he traces back to trauma in his childhood. I had to process everything, and writing the record was a therapy.¹ He was speaking to Barbara Visentin of Corriere della Sera over Zoom, ahead of his show on Tuesday 6 October at Milan's Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber, the only Italian date of his An Evening With... Blue Morpho tour.

When his first album came out in 2020, just off a Radiohead tour, he was unwell and afraid of a great deal. Now he no longer cares and simply gets on with it, which has been freeing. Time in nature has helped too. He has had therapy himself, but thinks people in cities need it most. He hates artificial intelligence, and cannot picture Radiohead using it.

He says going back on tour with Radiohead last year was powerful and moving. They tour again next year. They have not discussed recording new music at all, so he has no idea what will happen, though he understands that fans want a new album. He says time on their own projects is good for them, and coming back together for shows is wonderful. He likens the long years in the band to living at home with family, a home everyone leaves at some point to make their own.