Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien’s debut “Earth” is an odd throwback to that mix of prog and new wave and guitar rock that characterized his band at the outset, but which also draws on the meandering musicality of the late 1960s and 1970s. An eclectic grab bag of upbeat and muted songs, all fizzing with his intelligent guitar and synths, featuring his undramatic but effective vocals, “Earth” drifts and surges and chugs. The lyrics fit in with the instrumentals, more effect than substance. Check out the driving, proggy “Olympik”; “Brasil,” a long, soaring and churning highlight; and the irresistible, chugging, syncopated “Shangri-La.” If some of the tracks leave little to memory, the result is a pleasing lockdown-friendly whole.
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