Ed Sheeran

Pre-Release

Essential Albums

  • ÷ (Deluxe)
    ÷ (Deluxe)
    ÷ (Deluxe)

    On his third full-length, the superstar shows the full wealth and range of his powers. ÷ is a ruthlessly melodic run through a staggering array of styles, further proof that Sheeran is a singer/songwriter for these musical times, a balladeer who can blur the lines between Celtic folk and hip-hop (“Galway Girl”) just as readily as he can summon big, festival-ready sentiments (“Castle on the Hill”), impassioned serenades (“Perfect”) and pulse-quickening pop (“Shape of You”).

  • x
    x
    x

    Ed Sheeran’s 2011 debut album, +, introduced the world to an unassuming pop star. Sheeran, who cut his teeth sofa-surfing and playing gigs in pubs, was a relatable everyman: His tunes combined singer-songwriter melodies with slippery hip-hop rhythms, and his lyrics were imbued with recognisable references and down-to-earth imagery. Sheeran came across as the guy you saw perform at an open mic night, and felt compelled to buy a drink for afterwards—mainly because he was that guy. Even when + began selling millions of copies, Sheeran was still showing up at gigs wearing a lumberjack shirt, loose-fitting jeans and chunky sneakers. He was dressing for comfort; as a result, he sometimes looked like he’d wandered onto stage by accident. That approachability is maintained on x, his 2014 follow-up. But peel back Sheeran’s modest take on pop, and there’s a quietly experimental thread running through the record—best evidenced on the wanton lead single, “Sing”. Producer Pharrell Williams draws Sheeran away from his nice-guy persona, adding snapping beats, sonar-like electronics and a grooving rhythm guitar. “I want you to be mine, lady/And to hold your body close,” Sheeran spits on the verse, sounding like a tequila-soaked playboy. Then he slides into a seductive falsetto for the chorus: “If you love me/Come on, get involved.” Such subversion is repeated on “Don’t”, which finds Sheeran taking aim at an adulterous ex-flame, and “The Man”, which is Sheeran at his most bitter. Elsewhere on x, he’s seduced by the allure of hedonism (“Bloodstream”) and forced to confront familial trauma—which he does with empowered sassiness (“Runaway”). Sheeran doesn’t abandon his duties as a swooning balladeer, of course: “Photograph” is an aching meditation on the realities of a long-distant relationship, “Tenerife Sea” is a sensuous ode to a lover and “Thinking Out Loud” remains Sheeran’s most romantic song, forever destined to soundtrack first dances at weddings. The album’s amalgam of adventurous and innovative musicianship with crowd-pleasing reliability now feel synonymous with Sheeran’s music. But it was x that first hinted at an artist willing to test the limits of what people expected from him.

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About Ed Sheeran

In a scene from Apple Music’s Songwriter documentary about Ed Sheeran, the singer-songwriter straggles out into a garden in Malibu at dawn. Jet-lagged and carrying a cup of tea, he sits down at his laptop and begins writing a song about the moment right in front of him: the crisp air, the birdsong, the hot tea, the day ahead. Sheeran gets a full verse in, melody and all, and then pauses. “Songs are weird things,” he says. “How so?” an interviewer asks. “They just come and go,” Sheeran says, smiling. “And they never give you any warning.” For Sheeran, songs have come rather reliably since he started writing in his youth. Born in 1991 in Halifax, he started out gigging on the pub circuit before releasing his first studio album, +, in 2011. Sheeran kept up the mathematical theme on subsequent album titles as he became one of the most unstoppable singer-songwriters in music, forging a light, polished blend of folk, pop and hip-hop that feels bittersweet and redemptive, intimate yet universal. Whether on his own songs (“Sing”, “The A Team”, “Shape of You”, “Perfect”) or in collaboration with artists such as Taylor Swift, Chance the Rapper and Beyoncé, Sheeran strikes a chord that feels good-natured and genuine: he’s the hopeless romantic who isn’t afraid to be vulnerable and show you his heart. Perhaps even more important, Sheeran isn’t afraid to take chances. His 2021 smash “Bad Habits” dabbled in modern dance-pop, while in 2023, he performed an Apple Music Live session in London and released two albums: −, a vulnerable album about grief and depression; and Autumn Variations, featuring collaborations with Aaron Dessner of The National.

HOMETOWN
Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
BORN
17 February 1991
GENRE
Pop

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