EOB: Earth
It’s lingered around as a deep-cut inside-joke for Radiohead fans since 2007’s In Rainbows: During the euphoric climb of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” guitarist Ed O’Brien backs frontman Thom Yorke with a wordless cry that sounds very much like “Ed” (or, more accurately, “Eeeeeeeeed!”). It’s almost like Radiohead’s unsung hero singing his own praises—a rare moment of out-in-front recognition for one of rock’s premier sonic stylists. But O’Brien no longer needs to shout his own name: His debut solo LP, Earth, bravely issued at age 51, proves that he’s more than an expert sideman, more than a textural counterpoint to an iconic songwriter. Winding opener “Shangri-La” commences with a squirrelly guitar loop—and Earth is certainly crammed full of such blissful headphone nuggets. But this isn’t the album you would expect from the dude responsible for Radiohead’s ambient interlude “Treefingers.” These are transportive pop-rock songs centered around his sensitive, ageless voice—like the tranquil croon of “Mass,” the bluesy shudder of atmospheric love song “Deep Days” and the garage-rock belting and falsetto swoon on “ShangriLa.” O’Brien roams all over the place, dabbling in trip-hop drum production, folky fingerpicking and psychedelic rave-ups inspired by Primal Scream’s 1991 LP, Screamadelica. You can feel the Radiohead connection at times, like the stuttering guitars and shivering effects of “Olympik” or the dramatic chord changes of alt-folk reverie “Long Time Coming.” But the shadow of O’Brien’s day job doesn’t hover over the project—if anything, Earth proves he could offer the band another emotional dimension. “Going back, I’m not going back,” he sings on the record. And why would he?
