Today, Radiohead member Ed O'Brien revealed new details on his upcoming sophomore solo album, Blue Morpho, out May 22 via Transgressive. He also shared the titular track, as well as the trailer for his short film Blue Morpho: A Three-Act Play.

Watch/listen to "Blue Morpho" below:

Much of O'Brien's life in recent years had been taken up by the Radiohead live reunion — an arena tour throughout England and the UK where members played together for the first time since 2018 (and still plan to do in 2027, per a Rolling Stone interview with the guitarist). This year, however, the UK artist aims to re-center himself with Blue Morpho, an exploration of both darkness and healing.

The album pulls from sonic influences like trip-hop, ambient, psych folk, and meditative music to give character to O'Brien's personal retreat into nature. After the release of his solo debut Earth, the UK artist, struggling with mental health and the catastrophic reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, became interested in daily meditation rituals and the cold exposure experiments of extreme athlete Wim Hof, as well as the Welsh countryside. Much of that mental practice resulted in hours of playing guitar — the foundation for his new album.

The titular track meshes acoustic guitar with strings and birdsong, with O'Brien's prayer-like and ghostly chants breezing through the over-six-minute run time.

Blue Morpho is produced by Paul Epworth, and it features strings arrangements by Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Much of the recording was done in O'Brien's studio in Wales and London's The Church Studios.

Yesterday, the Radiohead guitarist also premiered his accompanying short film Blue Morpho: A Three-Act Play at the SXSW festival in Austin, TX. The music film will be released everywhere alongside the record. Watch the official trailer below:

Blue Morpho is out May 22. Pre-order here. Official tracklist:

1. Incantations
2. Blue Morpho
3. Sweet Spot
4. Teachers
5. Solfeggio
6. Thin Places
7. Obrigado