Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien has released a nine-minute video for his song “Brasil,” which will appear on his debut solo LP some time in early 2020. The trippy film, directed by Andrew Donoho, shows people all over the globe uniting as one after some sort of extraterrestrial phenomenon touches down on the planet.
“H.P. Lovecraft, [Stanley] Kubrick, and Junji Ito have created some of my favorite sci-fi narratives,” O’Brien said in a statement. “But I’ve always wanted to reinterpret their horrific premises into a more poetic and optimistic notion. What if an alien or higher being were to come to earth to help us achieve a greater existence, and not to destroy us? What would it look like if everyone on earth shared thoughts, experiences, and actions?”
“The theory that humans, as a species, actually represent one large, singular organism has always fascinated me,” he continued, “and I wanted to explore that concept visually through a variety of different character perspectives, mediums, and impressionistic visual effects. All these layers and ideas culminated into our narrative for ‘Brasil.’”
O’Brien has yet to announce the title of his album, but he has says it will be released under the moniker EOB. The LP features contributions from Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood along with drummer Omar Hakim, guitarist David Okumu, bassist Nathan East and drummer Glenn Kotche. It was produced by Flood, best known for his work with U2, New Order and Depeche Mode.
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Radiohead have been on break since they finished up their A Moon Shaped Pool tour at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on August 1st, 2018. Since that time, Thom Yorke has released the soundtrack to the 2018 horror film Suspiria, along with his recent solo album Anima. He’s also toured all over the world and is returning to America next year for a string of dates. It’s unclear if Ed O’Brien plans to promote his album with any concerts.