★★★☆☆
Given that he is the guitarist in Radiohead, you wouldn’t guess that Ed O’Brien’s debut solo album would be predominantly electronic. A family trip to Brazil in 2012 planted the seed for Earth, which puts aside Radiohead’s gloomy intellectualism for something rather more joyful and upbeat, so it fits that the album’s standout track is Brasil, a plangent piece of Nick Drake-like acoustic folk that turns into a rave anthem halfway through.
For the most part Earth is a nice if unremarkable blend of adult-friendly dance music and tasteful pop-rock, although the gentle Cloak of the Night, a fingerpicked acoustic guitar duet with Laura Marling, finishes it all off in affecting fashion. (Universal)