Ed O'Brien

“I don't read the press, I don't watch endless music TV.”

“The thing is, it really did take us too long to get these recordings done. We've had our rough times in the studio in the past, but after four weeks most of the material would have been recorded. This time it seemed like it just goes on and on.”

“I think that's what helped us: confidence, respect, the desire to work hard.”

“We are a weird bunch, we are very disparate.”

“Of the 25 songs we've recorded there were 24 that we wanted to have on an album. That wouldn't have worked. So when one of our wise managers suggested the idea of considering two different album, it cleared the way for us.”

“So we are not doing the traditional album, tour, album, tour, album, tour anymore. We're going to tour when we want to, regardless of whether we've got a record out.”

“We don't hate the media, it's just that when there's too much of it we get bored, but it happens to every human being. I don't think we even hated the media by the time that movie was made. We were just tired.”

“For a band like us tracklisting is a massive, massive task.”

“I'm thrilled we've got a new single out, as singles were the way I first got into music as a child.”

“But we will play 6, 7 new songs each evening, approximately a third in the concert. I think it's a good balance. It will be very interesting to see the public's reaction. But i think when we'll play the very first new piece, we will be scared.”

“What had disappointed me at the time of the last tour, was to go on a worldwide tour, we were at some incredible places and we couldn't enjoy it, hadn't the time.”

“Bowie is a musician, but he works like a painter. Thom always thought that we should aspire to that.”

“At the end of OK Computer we were playing big, big arenas and it wasn't right. You can do those things occasionally but at the time it didn't feel right.”

“There was this discussion to know how long the human ear was really receptive to the music. A 74 minute CD is too long. We thought about making two CDs, 35 minutes each... But the songs need to breathe.”

“Everyone who's serious about what they're doing must be in constant motion forward.”

“But for the first time, we haven't made a huge leap forward in sound from our last album. Fans who own Kid A should be able to get their heads around it.”

“It's really weird to be playing chords again. Haven't played chords for a long time. I realised I haven't played chord changes since OK Computer and stuff like that.”

“We're not aware of fame itself, we're not that kind of band.”

“It is fantastic to be found in a foreign country.”

“We are different people - you get a different take on the band whoever you speak to. Somehow, at the end of it, it goes through the filtering process and out comes the Radiohead thing.”