Posted on May 22, 2026 at 01:02 pm
Brazilian shamans, psychedelics, breathing, cold plunge. Ed O’Brien, the British songwriter and guitarist best known for his work with Radiohead, has embraced it all as part of his healing journey. “I’m drawn to phenomena on the fringes and things you can’t explain,” he said. outside By call from London. “I believe in magic. It’s inherent in making music. Music doesn’t come from studied, accumulated knowledge. It comes through you.”
Magic and mysticism are major themes in O’Brien’s second solo album, Blue Morphowhich was released on May 22. Four years in the making, the project is an album and short film conceived from a period of personal challenge. O’Brien also appears at Outside Inc’s annual festival Outside days On Sunday, May 31, he will screen his short film and participate in a live conversation on the Ideas platform.
Blue Morpho It is named after the iridescent blue butterfly that O’Brien encountered while living in Brazil with his family in early 2010. Like a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly, O’Brien underwent his own metamorphosis; A kind of creative renewal born from a dark place. In April 2020, amid the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, O’Brien fell into a deep depression, what he calls “the dark night of my soul.” He found solace in his music, but also in nature. During this period, O’Brien moved from London to his family home in Wales. He said his daily walks through the ancient Celtic landscape of Wales sparked a profound spiritual awakening within him. “This land is like my cathedral,” he says in the ten-minute film, which will premiere on YouTube on June 3.
The film was narrated by O’Brien and set to soundtrack blue Morpho, It follows the musician as he wanders through the woods, dips his hands in the cool river water, looks out at the lake, and gazes up at the night sky. Most of the footage was filmed on his home grounds or nearby. “When you make something that is very emotional or layered, it is often difficult to explain in just words,” he said on the call. “The images and references say a thousand things. The film was a way to share how the Welsh landscape played a very important role in shaping the music and in shaping me. When you’re somewhere really wild and powerful, it has a huge impact on you.”
The film was shot in the winter, giving it a dark mood appropriate for an album that came out of a dark place. But the music is far from dark. The songs feel introspective and emotional, mixing elements of jazz-influenced psych textures and ambient sound. O’Brien scored Blue Morpho Between London and the Welsh countryside with producer Paul Epworth, known for his work with acts such as Paul McCartney and Adele, he has collaborated with musical talent including flautist Shabaka Hutchings, guitarist Dave Okumu, Radiohead drummer Philip Selway, and Estonian composer Tno Korvets. The entire album was recorded at a frequency of 432 Hz, which is known as the universal harmonic. “When you listen to music, you feel calm, and this is part of the magic of 432 Hz,” he said. “It feels so full. I’m not going back to 444.”
Embrace alternative therapy
O’Brien has been on a healing journey for 30 years. “Ironically, I come from a family of osteopaths who like to prescribe medications,” he said. “They were horrified by the idea of me going to see a therapist in Brazil because it wasn’t scientific. But I’ve always been interested in how people in other parts of the world approach medicine and healing.”
Over the years, O’Brien sought out natural remedies for chronic back pain and sinus problems, but then he began to dig deeper. “Like an onion, there are many layers to the body, and I realized that happiness starts in an emotional place,” he said. “I started feeling my way through things and trying Tibetan medicine, acupuncture, and mushrooms. That had a profound effect on me.”
While suffering from depression, O’Brien adopted practices Wim Hofa Dutch health guru known for his extreme cold tolerance. Cold showers are now part of his daily routine. “It’s amazing what the cold does to the vagus nerve,” he said, referring to the nerve that affects the body’s parasympathetic nervous system. Meditation is another part of what he calls his healing “tool kit.”
“I’m a hybrid meditator,” he joked. “I have taught myself for 20 years, but I still intend to find a teacher.” Each morning he spends 25 minutes meditating and concludes the session with thoughts of gratitude.
Growth through challenge
O’Brien tried to conjure the emotions and sensations he felt during a psilocybin trip Blue Morpho Funky tune “Teachers”. Every year, he and a number of close friends spend three days camping in England’s Dartmoor National Park and bring mushrooms with them. “It has become a ritual,” he added. “The amazing thing about mushrooms is that they get you out of your head and into feeling the beauty of Mother Earth. It’s plant medicine. I feel reconnected after those weekends.”
O’Brien said his dark period was one of the most important chapters of his life. “I’m so grateful for that dark time,” he said. “I would not have progressed without it. Only when we suffer and face challenges do we develop. Development does not happen when everything is in balance.”
O’Brien said one of his favorite phrases is: “I got this.” On days when he didn’t want to get out of bed, he would tell himself to put one foot in front of the other. “I really think we have to be careful in modern society not to have such an aversion to pain,” he said. “People are more resilient and capable than they realize.”
Walking power
Walking in the countryside with his rescue dog Ziggy, a Springer Collie mix, helps pull O’Brien out of his depression. “I would get into my rickety old Land Rover and drive up into the foothills of Snowdonia National Park and take long, wonderful drives,” he recalls.
“Ziggy and I were watching the sun set over the Irish Sea, then back across the hills. It was the middle of winter, and the sunset was beautiful for that time of year. It promised us warmer days to come.”
O’Brien’s walking routine remains a big part of his day, he said. “It helps me reset and reset my relationship with my spirituality,” the guitarist said. outside. “It’s incredible to think that people have been walking these trails for thousands of years. I marvel at the way they sculpt the landscape and follow the rivers and streams.”
His practice of walking also reconnected him with the rhythm of the seasons. “I love the classes,” he said. “It excites me in special ways. I think living in cities, it’s easy to ignore the seasons. But I think there’s something primal about living by the seasons. They help ground us through change. Certain parts of the seasons are as ingrained in my psyche as lighting a fire in the winter months and smelling wood burning.”
O’Brien is already strategizing how to maintain his connection to nature as he returns to the stage. Still dreaming of how to apply Blue Morpho He lives. But Radiohead embarked on their first tour in seven years in late 2025. The band performs in a unique format, playing from a center stage.
Starting in 2027, they will travel each year to a different continent and perform 20 shows each year. “I try not to be a diva, but I ask for a room with a balcony or outdoor space,” he said. “And I seek out parks whenever I get the chance. After my dark time, I feel increasingly drawn to the beauty that surrounds us in the natural world. It has become my lifeline.”
Jane Murphy is a regular contributor to Outside. She still has a CD of Radiohead’s hit album, OK computer.
