Ed O'Brien - "Blue Morpho" (2026)

For those who don't know, Ed O'Brien is Radiohead's lesser well known guitarist after Jonny Greenwood. Unlike Greenwood (and most other members of the band), he never really engaged in any side projects outside of the band. That all changed in 2020 when O'Brien released his first solo record, Earth, under the moniker EOB. While an enjoyable album, it felt a little tepid and unsure of itself. It had its foot in a handful of genres, but never went all in on any. The whole context around the album does point to some clues: Ed's choice to go by a moniker, the fact that it was pieced together on-and-off for the majority of the 2010s, and he even at one point considered to get Thom Yorke to do the vocals as he didn't feel comfortable being front and centre.

It's taken long enough for a follow up that I thought that maybe it was a once and done thing for Ed. Admittedly the pandemic scuppered touring plans for Earth and Radiohead finally returned from their touring hiatus in 2025, but 6 years is still a long time. It's been a long time for Ed as well, who has been quite candid in the promo for this release that in the intervening time he became quite depressed, feeling like he was both over being in Radiohead and not knowing who he should be outside of it. Similarly to the driving themes behind Earth, he took solace in being in nature and recording music by himself, at his own pace. Thankfully, Ed has come out of this dark period and has resulted in him being more confident and secure in his own artistic abilities and work. What has resulted is him ditching the EOB moniker and creating an album that is a much more confident and creatively daring (and overall better). 

Blue Morpho follows on from the folkier side of Earth, but mixes in a lot of post-rock and early Pink Floyd-esque psych rock, which results in quite a chill and formless record that effortlessly ebbs and flows between its moods and moments. Some of the tracks even veer into ambient territory. The nearly 8 minute opener, Incantations, gently eases you into the record with gentle chiming guitars and subtle effects, before slowly building over the course of its run. First comes in Ed's soothing, hypnotic vocals; then the drums and bass, and ultimately layering up the mix into something that feels both grand and understated at the same time. It progresses through a couple of stages where the song is stripped back to various different instrumental sections then built all the way back up again. It's a great opener and tone setter for the rest of the record. The 6 minute title track follows with much more ornate and pretty chamber folk instrumentation. The strummed guitar is matched with swooning strings and field recordings of chirping birds. It has a cinematic quality to it. I could see it fitting in perfectly alongside the transition to an exotic location in a Bond film, for example. 

The middle of the record pairs back the expansive song lengths somewhat, but the tracks still have a lot to offer with plenty of intricate moments. Sweet Spot starts as a gentle acoustic strummed tune, but the layers once again build up and a subtle samba rhythm emerges from the beat. Teachers is easily the most 'rockiest' and Radiohead-y of the songs here, sounding like a looser and less neurotic version of the kinetic grooves present on National Anthem, complete with spooky and disorientating effects and processed, distant vocals. However, where National Anthem descends into pure madness, Teachers pulls itself out with a triumphant guitar line and soaring vocals.

Solfeggio and Thin Places are essentially short ambient interlude tracks that give a little breathing room between Teachers and the closer, Obrigado. Solfeggio feels straight out of David Bowie's Low (I will finish the David Bowie reviews, I promise) with its subtle pulsating electronic bassline and fuzzy lead synths. Thin Places, on the other hand feels way more organic, as the main instrument in the mix is a super reverby and layered up panpipe. Obrigado then comes swinging in as the cool, confident closer; as Ed sings "Sunny days, sunny days awaiting me" against a bossa nova rhythm and jazzy keys and bluesy guitars. It's a song about coming through trouble to sunny days ahead and feels so triumphant and joyous. Much like the opening tracks, it's long and expansive (10 minutes in this case), and at the half way point it goes full prog rock and transitions into a second section that includes a super expressive guitar solo that is given full breathing room to warm up and slowly progress into an dramatic climax to close out the album.

I've been itching to talk about Blue Morpho since my first listen, but I've been too busy this summer to get round to it. And I'm actually glad about that, as it has only grown on me as I have spent more time with it. It has been the perfect soundtrack to these endless heatwaves, and has really seeped into my life. I'm sure it will be in my rotation for many summers to come, a feat the Earth sadly didn't manage. If you're a fan of Radiohead or just looking for something relaxing to stick on while you're enjoying yourself in the sun, I'd really recommend checking this out.

Top Tracks: Incantations, Blue Morpho, Teachers, Solfeggio, Obrigado

8/10

Oklou - "choke enough" (2025)

 

I'm heading to Primavera Sound in Barcelona this summer, and I thought it would be fun to go through the lineup and write about some of the artists as I give them a listen. Oklou is a French alt-pop / electro-pop artist. choke enough is her full length debut and made a lot of year end lists last year, and considering my enjoyment of the recent wave of girly synth-pop, I thought this was going to be my bag. However, it wasn't quite what I was expecting (based on my admittedly limited knowledge going in) and hasn't been something I have resonated with much at all.

Compared to the brash and personality driven pop records I've loved over the past couple of years, choke enough is more of an ambient pop and minimal electronic album. Not that that's a bad thing, but I clearly had my wires crossed when I heard 'y2k aesthetic' and expected something along the lines of a BRAT or Imaginal Disk. choke enough is nothing like these albums, the mixes are sparse and clean, and the melodies are restrained and just sort of breeze in and out of these tracks. The songs flow into each other in a way where if you're not paying much attention, you could easily miss that one has ended and a new one has started. At 13 tracks and 35 mins, the album progresses quickly, not really lingering on a single moment long enough to emphasise it.

I think that's why I'm not really clicking with the album, as it just breezes by, with the more pop-leaning tracks not really having enough personality to carry them; and the more ambient-leaning ones not really creating much of an interesting or enveloping sonic landscape. The core aesthetics of the album are fine enough, with the clean, airy synths and hazy, reverbed vocals and percussion. I can see why it got labelled with the y2k tag as it feels like a video game or sci-fi movie soundtrack from that era.

Out of the tracks here, the ones I enjoy the most are the ones that are more sparce and minimal, as they create more of a serene atmosphere that I'm liking more than the poppier, more synth driven cuts. thank you for recording makes good use of negative space to highlight the simple melody that sounds like its performed on a distorted, electronic flute or the like. obvious has subtle hints of horns that poke through the reverby synths. The title track is one of the stronger more poppy tracks, with a repeated melodic background vocals smothered in distortion and reverb. The thing is, while I like them while they're on, I'm not going to remember these tracks in the long run. I find by around the point of plague dogs in the second half, I'm pretty much done with the record's sound and style. It's pretty much played all its cards by that point, and they just don't do it for me.

I don't want to bash choke enough too much, as it's more of a case that this just wasn't for me rather than any issue with the actual quality or craftmanship here. Considering all the critical acclaim it has received, there's clearly a lot of fans out there for this. But yeah, it just doesn't do it for me.

Top Tracks: thank you for recording, obvious

5/10

Air - "Moon Safari" (1998)

What is this? An older record on the blog? This hasn't happened in like 4 years! I am going to see Massive Attack in a few weeks and I have been listening through the supports, one of which is Air, a French electronic act who debuted in the late 90s with this record, Moon Safari. Apparently the band is fairly acclaimed within the scene, and so I'm surprised this is my first time coming across them. Maybe it's just the Anglospheric bias of British music tastemakers and historians.

On listening to Moon Safari, I feel like it is representative of the watershed moment in the late 90s where the very localised Bristol-based trip hop scene was adopted into the more mainstream friendly, broader downtempo genre. A lot of the grimier, more dangerous soundscapes that characterised the work of Massive Attack, Portishead and UNKLE were toned back and replaced with looser, jazzier samples that fitted better to the Ibiza clubs that were playing this music in their chill-out rooms. However Moon Safari maintains a weirder edge that lost just a year later with the likes of Moby and Groove Armada releasing their very successful and very palatable downtempo tunes (Porcelain and At the River respectively).

Similarly, as you would expect from a French act, there is certainly a French pop flair to Moon Safari compared to their English contemporaries. It is a very gentle, smooth and sensual record; completely eschewing the more neurotic song topics and musical elements that the trip hop scene was known for. Not a single drug reference or scratchy drum breakbeat in sight. Instead elegant strings and smooth saxophones occupy the mix. The opening cut, Le femme d'argent, swoons in with a gentle conga rhythm, a smooth, funky bassline and and a jazzy keyboard riff. There's no vocals, no real melody, just loose noodling set against the tight rhythm section. A simple string backing and bubbling effects get introduced as the song progresses, giving a little more depth and progression to the mix. Its a very suave and sophisticated sounding tune. Sexy Boy on the other hand is much more passionate and sensual. The whining guitars and intimate female vocals give off a much more urgent and seductive vibe.

All I Need featuring Beth Hirsh definitely feels the closest to British trip hop with its very stripped back production and moody, yearning vocal performance that with a passing listen you could easily mistake for Portishead's Beth Gibbons or Elizabeth Fraser who featured on many a trip hop tune. You Make It Easy also features Hirsh on vocals, which sounds very Portishead if I say so myself. It's a good tune and a highlight of the second half. Talisman is a low key, bluesy number which again feels quite moody. The strings start to ramp up towards the end of the song which adds some tension and drama to the track. Ce matin-là on the other hand, is the most chilled out song on the planet with its strummed acoustic guitar and gentle trumpet motif. It sounds like an M&S summer food advert.

Not everything is a winner though. Kelly Watch the Stars is a bit of a departure for the record, with it's squelchy synths and robotic vocals sounding more Daft Punk than downtempo. It's not bad but it doesn't really retain the relaxed and elegant vibe of the tracks that proceed it. Similarly, the robotic vocals on Remember are more distracting than they add to the atmosphere of the song. On the whole, the back half of the album feels quite safe and unchallenging. It does start to sit in the background, which I get is the point; but when I give it my entire focus I'm left wishing the songs just went a little further and made more of an impact.

On the whole, Moon Safari is a good album and I can see the acclaim it received mostly off the back of the first three tracks. It certainly highlights the difference between the influence and 'importance' of a record, and the overall impressiveness of a record from front to back. Well worth checking out if you like chill electronic music, but don't expect it to be a profound boundary pushing experience.

Top Tracks: Le femme d'argent, Sexy Boy, All I Need, You Make it Easy, Ce matin-là

7/10

Massive Attack - "100th Window" (2003)

Continuing on with Massive Attack's discography into the 21st Century, 100th Window makes a unique stylistic shift for the group. The record came after a period of tension within the group, with only Robert Del Naja (aka 3D) and producer Neil Davidge working on the record, with no involvement from Andrew Vowles or Grant Marshall. As a result, the record is far less indebted to the sounds of dub, soul and hip hop than the group's previous albums, instead heading of the direction of ambient and minimal techno. The record is still just about trip hop, but as a sign of how different it is, the album contains zero samples.

What results is a an incredibly low-key album that feels very serene and measured. The tracks fade together, all occupying similar tempo, sonic pallets and tones. The Vocals in particular have much less emphasis on them. All the tracks have them, yet the only track where they really draw attention is Special Cases. Most of the time, they float about in an ethereal fashion, almost as if their purpose is to be an additional instrument rather than a lyrical focus. The tracks also feel very synthetic, with their emphasis on rigid techno beats. Take for example Butterfly Caught, a track which has these flourishes of strings as additional layering, but the core of the track (the repetitive beat and 3D's vocals) feel so mechanised and sterile. The best tracks have something to grab you're attention, for instance the aforementioned more intense vocals on Special Cases. Everywhen has a more organic feel to it; and A Prayer For England has a prominent, much more groovier bass guitar line which feels like it gives the track some more heft compared to some of the other cuts

The record has been great to have in the background while working, the tracks are busy enough to not feel like droning, but ambient and minimal enough to not be distracting. But unlike the rest of the group's records, I don't really want to listen to it while not doing anything else. It feels so sterile and passive. The cover represents the album well, clean, glass-like, varying shades of grey. It's like a brand new skyscraper in a world city; impressive and elegant, yet characterless and unremarkable. I'd say only check it out if you're really into checking out the group's entire discography, although the record still maintains a decent quality and the best moments are pretty good. It just feels a bit one note and uneventful compared to the genre-sprawling of Massive Attack's 90's work.

Top Tracks: Everywhen, Special Cases, A Prayer For England

6/10

Thom Yorke - "ANIMA" (2019)

Despite being a big Radiohead fan, I've never gotten around to checking out any of Thom Yorke's solo material until now. This record dropped a couple of weeks ago alongside an arty Netflix short film featuring 3 of the songs and some more of Thom's meme worthy dancing. ANIMA explores Yorke's more electronic leaning tendencies that are apparent in Radiohead's more experimental albums. ANIMA, however, feels a whole lot more consistent than the likes of Amnesiac or The King Of Limbs. Perhaps it is because Thom is only focused on electronic sounds and textures, making the album feel less like a balancing act, and more of a full exploration of the genre.

Another distinction I feel between this and a lot of Radiohead's electronic work is the emphasis on more ambience and texture, as opposed to the hypnotic rhythms they tend to build their tracks around. Loops and rhythm are still an integral part to the album, but it feels as if they're not the focus this time. For example, the opener, Traffic, is built up from layers of looping synthetic beats, but swells of synthesisers rise and fall and different elements are introduced throughout the track. Thom's vocals are soaked in reverb, creating a strange yet human atmosphere as they contrast to the music they're paired with. Twist starts off with a looped sample of Thom just saying "twist" which slowly fades out of the mix as ethereal vocals glide over the top. A sample of kids cheering is also introduced which gives the track a slight sense of fun. However the track feels like it should've ended after its first phase, as it really feels dragged out over its 7 minute runtime. Not The News has tense beebs and boops driving the track forward with some momentum as Thom's voice sounds paranoid and confused, which echo effects applied at just the right moment to add to the tension. Strings come in slowly as the song moves forward, turning it from something tense and synthetic, to something lush and rich. This paranoia carries on through the seamless transition into The Axe, where Yorke wails 'I Thought We Had A Deal' over these chiming guitar notes buried in effects lower in the mix.

Dawn Chorus is built from some incredibly sad, slightly dissonant chords and not much else. Yorke's deadpan, emotionless depiction of modern day to day actions with lines such as "You've quit your job again" and "I don't like leaving, doors shut". This completely devastated track evokes similar feelings to the likes of Motion Picture Soundtrack and True Love Waits, as if there is nothing left for him in this life. I Am a Very Rude Person fits in rather well afterwards, with it's spacious beats and cool bass guitar refreshing the album after the defeated atmosphere of the last track. Impossible Knots is also built around a chunky looped bass riff and some sped up drum patterns, courtesy of Radiohead's drummer Philip Selway. Honestly at this point it doesn't sound to far of the basis of a typical Foals track. Synths layer on top of this, along with more of Thom's ethereal vocals.

Last I Heard (... He Was Circling The Drain) is my least favourite of the bunch, reminding me of Radiohead's more underwhelming electronic tracks, such The Gloaming. The siri-esque computerised vocals on the closer, Runwayaway, also don't really appeal to me; and the track as a whole doesn't feel like it progresses to anywhere particularly interesting.

This album has certainly become one of my favourite releases this year, with these engaging ambient tracks which have so much detail and texture to them. The beats and grooves drive the tracks without them feeling as if the rhythm is the sole focus of them. It's a really great album and a good way to follow on from the likes of Kid A and Amnesiac through to full-on electronica.

Top Tracks: Traffic, Dawn Chorus, I Am A Very Rude Person, Not The News, The Axe, Impossible Knots

8/10