EOB - Earth Review

EOB - Earth Review

Radiohead guitarist showcases his skill away from the Oxfordshire quintet in impressive debut effort

Ed O'Brien has followed in the footsteps of some of his fellow bandmates in Radiohead and has released a solo album, entitled Earth. This record takes what he was learned from being in a band for 20+ years and turns that into something new. On lead single Brasil, Ed, going under the name EOB sings about the location where he got a lot of the inspiration for this record from as he was residing in Brazil in 2012 with his family when he started forming ideas for a solo career. This appreciation for the location shines in lyrics like 'Eden days, Golden nights' which describes the atmosphere in that part of the world.

A lot of the music styles from that area also seep into this record, especially on songs like Shangri-La and Olympik, which have a very dance-y vibe to them. These songs in particular seem that they would go down very well on a festival stage like Glastonbury with those dance elements which would no doubt go down a storm. 

With this record, Ed O'Brien talks about very real things that have happened. For example, Banksters, which was written in 2009, was written as a response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis. This song is also a prime example of the eclectic styles of the album, with this one emitting vibes of 2000 album Kid A, with it being reminiscent of Idioteque in particular. It also sees him at his most passionate, with lyrics like 'Where did all the money go? (You fuck)' which really gets across the power of his voice when he's feeling passionate about something.

While this record does see Ed at his most fired-up and angry, it also sees at his most vulnerable, with the track Sail On being written about his cousin who passed away. That song also shows the versatility of his voice, as he can go from almost shouting the lyrics on one song to softly whispering them on the next, which not many artists can pull off.

The album ends on quite a somber note, with a duet between Ed and artist Laura Marling, where their voices seem to compliment each others quite nicely. This song, entitled Cloak of the Night, kind of wraps up the idea of the album quite well, with lyrics like 'Trees crack, the earth does howl' and 'In this night as the north wind blows'. There's a lot of this kind of imagery throughout the album, especially on songs like Shangri-La with the lyrics 'I dive in, the deep and rapid river'. 

This album really does cover a lot of different styles, and it makes me quite excited for the future of Ed O'Brien's solo career and indeed, the future of Radiohead.

Score: 4 stars