Ed Sheeran is on the promo trail for new album Play and has just been speaking with Time in the States concerning his upcoming output and where his head is at right now.
First of all comes the revelation that the next five albums – Sheeran has always conceived the notion of making ten albums and then quitting, inspired by movie-maker Quentin Tarantino desire to only make ten films – will all share a similar ‘theme’, much in the same manner as his first five.
Play will be his sixth album and while his first five were inspired by mathematical symbols: Plus, Multiply, Divide, Subtract and Equals, his second set would be based on the buttons for music playback: Play, Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind and Stop.
It’s a neat idea and just as titles such as Subtract and Divide allowed the star to explore more downbeat and personal topics, it’s clear to see that future albums entitled Pause and Stop will give Sheeran similar room to breathe, and produce something less overtly mainstream.
Likewise it’s not hard to imagine some future-focused EDM/dance/hyper-pop genre-mashing going on for Fast Forward, and spinning back for some out some old skool r’n’b, reggae and soul influences for Rewind…
Right now, however, Sheeran is all about round two’s breakout album Play, an album he’s promised will be “all about fun, connection and bringing people together” and the star has already been undertaking a slew of surprise impromptu gigs across the world, getting up close and personal with his fans. “It’s a connection he plans to continue throughout the Play campaign,” says the Sheeran team.
And after the international flavour of album lead single, Azizam, a track inspired by a suggestion from Swedish songwriter, producer, singer and Sheeran collaborator Ilya Salmanzadeh that they explore the music of his Persian heritage and culture, Sheeran reveals that the next single has a much more personal grounding.
Teasing next single Old Phone, Sheeran says that the source of the song was an old phone that he’d been forced to unearth and hand over as part of one of his recent plagiarism court cases.
Thinking Out Loud
After being struck multiple times by claims that he’d lifted lyrics and melodies from unpaid ‘collaborators’, and taking the accusations as such a personal affront that he even threatened to stop working altogether, Sheeran now films every writing session to prove that he’s there sparking the magic, thereby keeping subsequent irritations at bay.
What makes the digging out of his old phone all the more personal, poignant and – frankly – bloody annoying for the star is the fact that Sheeran hasn’t used a conventional ‘smart’ phone for a decade, thereby smartly distancing himself from social pressures and in-your-face upset since 2015.
The result is that upon firing up a phone from ten years ago, Sheeran found himself being dragged back to a place he didn’t want to be.
“The first text was from my friend who died. The second text was from an ex-girlfriend, having an argument. The third text was from a family member I hadn't spoken to in 10 years,” he says.
Sheeran says that the experience “really f___ing spun me out,” and served as a reminder to try to live in the present at all times. “This isn't healthy, trying to relive all of this,” he says. “I'm now 34, married with kids, and I'm looking forward rather than back.”
“I’ve kind of got to a point of my career where I’m just sort of like, ‘Am I enjoying it?’” rather than, ‘Is it commercially doing well?’”
Sheeran’s Play has yet to receive a release date. Watch this space.
