Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien gives Abbeycwmhir wide release beyond vinyl
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Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien has given a wide release to his atmospheric track "Abbeycwmhir," which had previously only been available on an exclusive seven-inch vinyl. The song arrives two months after his second solo album, Blue Morpho, and offers fans another glimpse of the introspective work he produced during a difficult personal period.
The track takes its name from a village in Powys, Wales, meaning "Abbey in the Long Valley," and features layered, ghostly vocals over ambient guitar textures. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, O'Brien said he battled depression and a Covid-triggered "mid-life crisis" while making Blue Morpho over four years, finding healing through walks in the Welsh countryside with his dog, Ziggy. He will promote the album on a short European tour launching in October, and revealed that Radiohead — whose last album was 2016's A Moon Shaped Pool and who toured in 2025 for the first time in seven years — plan to play 20 shows on a different continent each year.
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Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien has built a career as part of one of Britain's best-known rock bands, whose last full album came out in 2016 and who returned to touring in 2025 after a long break. Outside the band, O'Brien has been developing his own solo material, most recently his second album, Blue Morpho, released a couple of months ago.
Blue Morpho took shape over roughly four years during which O'Brien has spoken openly about struggling with depression and a personal crisis linked to the Covid pandemic. He has credited walking in the Welsh countryside with his dog as part of what helped him through that period, and the album's songs, including the track named after the Powys village of Abbeycwmhir, reflect that introspective, reflective mood.
The wider context is O'Brien balancing his solo work with his role in Radiohead, a band whose members have increasingly pursued individual projects between group activities. His upcoming European tour and comments about Radiohead's future touring plans place this release within an ongoing period of renewed activity for both his solo career and the band.
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Originally published by Rolling Stone as “Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien Shares Spectral New Song ‘Abbeycwmhir’”.