Radiohead have addressed the band’s long break, revealing that emotional exhaustion contributed to the group’s absence from the stage over the past seven years.
In an interview with the English newspaper “The Times”, Yorke and guitarist Ed O’Brien recalled the last days of the tour for “A Moon Shaped Pool”, the band’s most recent album, which took place in Philadelphia in August 2018.
“I think we derailed, so we had to stop”says Yorke. “The concerts were great, but it was better to stop because we were about to fall off a cliff”, adds the vocalist, on the eve of his return live, a series of 20 concerts in European cities – Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen and Berlin – which begins in the Spanish capital on November 4th.
The pain caused by the death of his first wife, Rachel Owen, in 2016, also contributed to Yorke’s need to put Radiohead aside. “I hadn’t given myself time to grieve”says Yorke, who had separated from Owen a year earlier. “My pain was emerging with an intensity that made me conclude that I needed to end this [a atividade na banda].”
“There have been times in my life when I have sought refuge in music and played the piano, but it literally hurts. Physically. The music hurts because you’re going through trauma”, elaborated the 57-year-old musician who, however, remarried in 2020 with Italian actress Dajana Roncione.
First photograph of the future Radiohead, released in the documentary “Anyone Can Play Guitar”: Thom Yorke, Phil Selway, Ed O’Brien and Colin Greenwood pose in front of an Iron Maiden poster. Absent is Jonny Greenwood, the last to join the band
D.R.
In turn, Ed O’Brien considers that, on the last tour, Radiohead were “disconnected”. “I loved the concerts but I hated everything else. We were exhausted”continues the guitarist. “I hit bottom in 2021. The best thing was realizing that I like these guys so much. I met them when I was 17 and I stopped thinking that I can’t do this again. We have great songs.”