Ed O’Brien confirms Thom Yorke will release new solo album in 2026
Thom Yorke has a new album on the way this year, his Radiohead bandmate Ed O’Brien has confirmed.
O’Brien made the revelation in a new interview while discussing his own new solo album, Blue Morpho, which is set for release on May 22nd, 2026, through Transgressive Records.
In conversation with Kyle Meredith, O’Brien explained how Radiohead members, himself included, managing their solo projects doesn’t mean that the band would be placed on a permanent hold, sharing, “What’s so lovely is it feels they both can coexist.”
He elaborated, “The Radiohead thing can go out and tour and that’s the mothership, I guess, for all of us. But we’ve got these little satellites.”
O’Brien then dropped the bombshell regarding Yorke’s new album, adding, “You know, there’s The Smile, and there’s Thom’s got a solo album that’s going to come out later in the year, I think. And Jonny’s got his stuff, and you know, Philip’s (Selway) got his stuff, and Colin’s (Greenwood) playing with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.”
While Yorke has kept himself busy in the decade that has followed Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool in 2016, it would mark his first solo record since 2019’s Anima.
However, in the seven year period since his last solo outing, Yorke has shared three albums with The Smile, as well as collaborating with Mark Pritchard on Tall Tales.
This is the second secret from Radiohead’s camp that O’Brien has spilt while on the campaign trail for Blue Morpho over the last week, after confirming that they would be returning to the road in 2027 and plan on replicating their European tour, which saw them play 20 shows in 2025, across different continents each year.
He shared with Rolling Stone, “What we’re going to do is, every year we’re going to do a different continent, and we’re going to do 20 shows each year. No more, no less.”
Explaining the band’s reasoning for wanting to only play 20 dates per year rather than committing to a full-blown world tour, O’Brien said, “We want to give absolutely everything each night.”
He added, “We do not ever want it to be like we’re going through the motions or we’re having to run on empty. We’ve got to be able to do it. And you know what? We’re not spring chickens anymore.”
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