[powerpress]
There’s a butterfly called the blue morpho.
The caterpillar enters the dark, dissolves almost entirely, and emerges with wings. It’s one of nature’s oldest metaphors for transformation.
Ed O’Brien named his new solo album after it. Once you understand why, you understand everything about where he’s been.
You know Ed as a member of Radiohead. For three decades, he’s conjured the textures of a sound so distinct it borders on the sacred, mostly from the background, rarely in the front. His album is the sound of a man finally stepping into the light.
It did not come easily. It emerged from a prolonged depression, the kind that no measure of success, acclaim, or creative fulfillment can insulate you from.
Ed tried all the usual remedies. Nothing moved. What finally shifted wasn’t another fix. It was surrender.
His wife told him to stop running and sit in the fire. And slowly, the dark night of the soul stopped registering as proof that something was wrong with him, and began to reveal itself as something else entirely, the well-worn passage every one of us eventually walks.
Topics include:
- The Dark Night Of The Soul And The Hero’s Journey
- The Body’s Intelligence And The Signal Beneath Depression
- Naming Childhood Trauma And The Work Of Gabor Maté
- Uncertainty As The Ground Of Creativity
- The Making Of “Blue Morpho” And The Return To Flow
- Music, Soul, And The Limits Of AI
For those who prefer a visual experience, the conversation is available on YouTube. As always, the audio version streams wild and free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Peace + Plants,
Listen, Watch, & Subscribe
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- Connect with Ed: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
- Order Blue Morpho
- Listen to Blue Morpho
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