Back to this record, and back to Screamedelica: the second-last track, Olympik, is a proper rave banger.

That’s what I wanted it to be. When I came up with those chords I called it Olympik with a K after 808 State’s Cubik. It’s an homage to that. That’s the last song that was written for the album. It’s like, the rave: that’s what I’m after. That feeling. That’s what I want for the live gigs. I don’t know how it’s gonna go, but that’s what I’m aiming for.

It has that transporting oomph (for want of a better word) that Radiohead have at a couple of crucial points in your live sets. I’m saying: Everything In Its Right Place and Idioteque…

Totally. For me it’s a bit like the bastard brother or sister of, say, Weird Fishes on In Rainbows. My favourite Radiohead moments are those euphoric ones. I love when you can feel it, the wave. That’s what I was trying to do.

The interesting thing for me is that my frustration with rave is that there’s not enough light and shade. Sometimes you’re just fucking bored. And if you’ve ever gone to a rave and you haven’t done any drugs, it’s… [shrugs] you know? That’s why I wanted the darkness [on the album], the slower moments. So that it’s not just bang, bang, bang. It’s a journey.

So, the title: Earth. Explain.

I wanted to call it Pale Blue Dot but then, yeah, copyright issues [smiles]. And there’s a film coming out with Reese Witherspoon called Pale Blue Dot [actually, Witherspoon exited and was replaced by Natalie Portman, it was retitled Lucy In The Sky, and it was released to less than stellar reviews last year – Space Movies Editor]. So I kept coming back to planet earth… Then, Blue Earth sounded like David Attenborough! So I just thought: Earth.

The other thing is that in the last five years, a lot of people I know have died. And literally, we are dust, the soul – but also, our physical bodies go back to earth.

Again, I wanted something direct. I didn’t want to hide behind something that was slightly obtuse or mysterious. I’m not interested in irony at the moment. What do you really fucking feel? What’s your truth? Bang, boom! So, fucking Earth.

Do you want this record and sentiments like that to speak to kids in their twenties – kids who weren’t born even when even OK Computer came out, far less Pablo Honey?

I would love to. And they may not be into it. But [compared to] a lot of people my own age, I find I have more in common with the millennials, the way the conversation is. I would really like to connect, if I can, or get them to hear it. I’d like it to be part of those people and, when I go to meet people from XR, [for it to be part] of that. That it’s music that can be a soundtrack to this stuff.

Is making a solo album going to make you a better member of Radiohead?

Definitely, whatever that will be in the future. What’s brilliant about Radiohead is that there’s no plan. It’ll be what it’ll be. The truth is that we’ve been in a band for 35 years and we’ll make music when we all want to make music, not because we should or we have to or we’ve got a contract to fulfil. That’s the only way you can do it. If we went down another route, you’d be able to tell. People would be like: that’s a bit weird.

What do the rest of the band think of Earth?

Colin’s heard [teaser track] Brasil, he likes it. He likes the filthy bass. Phil wanted to hear it so I sent it to him. When we’ve done [solo] stuff, we don’t all send it out. Thom doesn’t send out his stuff to me. You ask to hear it, it’s that kind of thing. I haven’t been asked, so that’s fine.

Would their approbation matter to you?

Yeah. There was a stumbling block for me when I was making it, this default thing of: what would the guys think? But I actually had to let go of that because I think there are things they’re really not gonna like about this record.

Like what?

I think some of the emotion of it, the directness perhaps. The simplicity. But I’m not worried about that. I was, but you’ve got to get on and do it.

The other thing is, of course, you can’t please everybody all the time. I didn’t want to bring out a record that was a shit record by someone in Radiohead. But part of that was also: I have huge respect and love for what Thom’s doing, what Jonny’s doing, what Philip’s doing. I think it’s all really great, a lot of great musical stuff happening. My contribution to the individual parts isn’t going to let the side down, I hope.

You have a lot of touring mapped out across the year. How odd will it be to tour without Radiohead, and in much smaller venues?

Pretty weird! I’m starting with the tour manager who does monitors, two backline [crew], and that’s how it’s gonna be. It’s very different and I’m excited about that. I’ve seen how much Jonny and Thom and Philip have got out of it, playing with other people and taking their thing on the road.

Will you be more involved in songwriting on the next Radiohead album?

That would be good. I always think it’d be interesting to do the unexpected thing. How about four songs that I sing? [Smiles] Who knows?

Let’s say Face readers who don’t know the music have to stream one song by EOB and one song by Radiohead to get a sense of both artists. What are they?

Olympik and Weird Fishes/​Arpeggi. Olympik is probably my favourite track on my record. And Weird Fishes is my favourite Radiohead track, and without fail whenever we play it live, I get this feeling… That and Let Down from OK Computer, they’re the two where there’s an emotion that just sits there. I really connect with that. They seem to comfort the audience as well.

Is 2021 a Radiohead year?

Maybe a couple of shows. We have meetings every two or three months and there’s an idea of somehow trying to do some shows…. The records take so fucking long, it’s like a year-and-a-half and you can’t do anything else. And we’re not playing together at the moment, so…

But again, there has to be an appetite. We’ve been a band since 1985. We’ve only done two albums in the last ten years, so it’s not the most prolific time. That’s because people in the band have wanted to go off and do other stuff. It feels like we’re entering a new period because everyone’s doing stuff – Colin’s doing stuff too – and that’s where people wanna be.We might not make an album for 10 years, or we might make one in three years. I don’t know, it has to be right. Maybe it’s like a jazz band! But it always has to involve Thom.

Finally: are you happy with Earth?

Yeah. It’s funny, I had that feeling I have, not with every Radiohead album, but with the ones that I really loved, [where] you sit on it and you feel happy with it, and then you start hearing the flaws in it. That’s inevitable. So, it’s a start, and you have to see the flaws because that propels you on to do further stuff. And to make that next thing better, richer.

