‘If I didn’t do it then a creative part of me might have died’

“Making a record isn’t easy, it takes a lot of work and a lot of soul searching. But doing this was something I felt compelled to do. If I didn’t do it then a creative part of me might have died. It was one of those ‘what if ’ moments, you just have to follow your instincts.”

Titled Earth and featuring the production talents of Flood, who has worked with the likes of a-ha, New Order, The Killers and U2, the album offers up a varied mix of sounds that reflects its complex journey.

Its inspiration straddles everything from early Primal Scream rave anthems to touches of samba , with angst-ridden grooves, elegant duets and more.

“My debut has elements of soul, rock and ambient music, but lyrically it’s a gospel album, about having been through the dark and moving towards the light,” says Ed.

He’s found a sense of vindication in finally completing the album, released under the moniker of EOB. Clearly, surviving amid an industry where so many musical peers have fallen by the wayside is no mean feat.

After nine studio albums, Radiohead proved their resilience many times over, and last year entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Though Ed admits he’s not yet at the nostalgic “book writing stage of my life,” he appears happy to speak about the band’s eventful past.

Recalling his own inspiration, he acknowledges that growing up in a particularly musical household has served him extremely well in his career.

“Both my mum and dad loved their music, getting me into the Beatles, as well as bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival,” says Ed, who adds he was also exposed to a lot of classical music, singing soprano as a youngster. In his teens, he eagerly lapped up all that punk, New Wave and bands such as the Smiths, The Jam and The Police had to offer in an age when the

BBC’s Top of The Pops served as a musical bible.

As for Radiohead, or On a Friday as they were originally named (after their rehearsal day), they met at Abingdon School in the mid ‘80s. Their path was set in motion when Ed, playing Lysander in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, encountered the young Thom, who was arranging the show’s musical score.

“I don’t know if it was a case of knowing we were going to be special, but it felt instinctively the right place to be as part of the band, right from the very first moment.

“We became thick as thieves and it was like a brotherhood, which I have always thought has been really important. For us, it’s never been just being all about the music, though we are all very different characters.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Ed recounts it was