The Grammy winner just released his eighth album Play. In this disc we can see a fresher version of the Irish superstar. While there is a clear influence of Indian and Persian music, commercial pop remains Ed’s genre of excellence.
This new album contains five fire singles –Azizam, Old Phone, Sapphire, A Little More and Camera– and some of them have already hit charts. The disc consists of a total of 13 tunes and has a duration of 44:38 minutes. Gingerbread Man Records and Atlantic Record delivered the LP, under the license of Warner music.
The musician, who once was the biggest artist on Spotify, has a plan to the top. Nevertheless, he admitted he does not enjoy the release week:
“If I’m being honest, I don’t enjoy release week. I think I love making music and I love touring music, and I think that the bridge between the two is releasing albums. Obviously, you have to put albums out there for people to digest and then come to the shows.”
“It’s never fun putting it out and getting, like, ragged on for a week. But this week will end, and next week will begin, and the album will settle in. It’s happened every single record that I’ve put out. You put it out, people have an opinion, then they move on, and then your fans find it and then you tour it.” Source
Spotify gave fans the opportunity to enjoy the album differently with a new campaign. London was the city that hosted this immersive experience.
Moreover, a surprise interview was hosted at the event, where the popstar explained that the purpose of this unique and sensory journey was to “elevate the album experience” and to “foster deeper fan connection”.
To top it off, Ed surprised everyone in London with a street performance.
Simultaneously, a storm of criticism was coming towards Sheeran. People started to accuse him of using AI tools in the making of Play. Haters have also entered the hate train by saying: “The AI question hangs over this record. It is sad, because Ed at his best has always been personal and poetic. Here, it sounds like he’s outsourced his soul.” The superstar has not addressed any of the polemic situation. Source
On the other hand, Spotify also granted Ed with a banging collaboration. He is the artist that will appear on the very-awaited El Clásico football match between Real Madrid C. F. and F. B. Barcelona. This comes after Barça’s deal with the music company. Many other artists such as Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Travis Scott and Drake collaborated with the spanish team.
Sheeran has already pictured his next creation. His next album -called Rewind– will come to light sooner than everyone suspected. Furthermore, the pop artist revealed that is is almost finished as he wrote Play and Rewind at the same time.
In an interview with iHeartRadio Canada he talked more about the resemblance of these two albums and the possible due date:
“I made Play and Rewind at the same time,” said Sheeran. “We finished Play first because it felt like the most exciting one. So, Rewind is… I’d say two months off being totally locked and loaded and ready to go. And I guess at some point in the next 18 months, it will come out.”
