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Radiohead's Ed O'Brien Drops 'Earth', A New Project As EOB : World Cafe : World Cafe Words and Music from WXPN The Radiohead guitarist tells us about taking a break to spend time with his family, finding community at Glastonbury and drawing inspiration from the folk tradition of Wales with Laura Marling.
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Ed O'Brien On World Cafe

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Radiohead's Ed O'Brien Talks 'Earth,' His New Solo Project As EOB

World Cafe Words and Music from WXPN

Radiohead's Ed O'Brien Talks 'Earth,' His New Solo Project As EOB

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Ed O'Brien On World Cafe

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Eliot Lee Hazel/Courtesy of the artist

Ed O'Brien

Eliot Lee Hazel/Courtesy of the artist

Playlist

  • "Shangri-La"
  • "Cloak of the Night"
  • "Mass"

If there's one lesson I've taken from the last month or so of unprecedented change and self-isolation, it's that we human beings truly need each other. We have always known that we're social animals, but suddenly being unable to gather together, it becomes even more obvious how deeply we crave that human connection. While working on his debut solo album, Ed O'Brien was inspired by things like late night raves at music festivals and Brazil's Carnival. In our conversation, he talks about those moments of community, of understanding, of us all being in it together.

You may know Ed O'Brien as a guitarist for the band Radiohead. He's been playing music with his Radiohead bandmates — Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood and Philip Selway — since their school days. Through the years, some of those members have tried their hands at solo projects, and now it's Ed's turn. For his new project, he goes by the name EOB. The album is called Earth, and we begin this session by listening to one of the singles from the album and one of my favorite songs of the year so far, "Shangri-La."

Episode Playlist