Ed
Sheeran- ‘÷’
2014 & ‘15 were glorious times for shaggy singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.
His second studio album ‘X’ sold over 2 million copies in the UK alone, nearly
1.5 million people attended his world tour and he copped countless awards.
Then, in 2016, it all went quiet. Sheeran abandoned his social media accounts
claiming that he had found himself "seeing the world through a screen and
not my eyes." After that year’s hiatus, Sheeran returned in January of
this year with 2 brand-new singles, ‘Shape of You’ & ‘Castle on the Hill’.
Two tracks that were extremely different in sound, and in this bloggers
opinion, quality. Personally, I really enjoyed ‘Shape of You’, it felt like a
proper feel-good anthem, whereas ‘Castle on the Hill’ just seemed to me to be a
depressing tale of an artist desperately attempting to display his ‘artistic
range’ and struggling in the process. It is now March of 2017, and Sheeran’s
third record ‘÷’ has been released. And before I get into the juiciness of this
review, I just want to say that no matter what my opinion is, Sheeran is bound
to be extremely successful this year due to his dedicated fan base who hang on
his every lyric. But anyway…
One of Sheeran’s key traits from when he emerged back in 2010 was that he
was very unlike the other acts dominating the charts at that time. This
therefore gave him a ‘niche´ quality that resulted in him becoming a
huge star almost immediately. However, 7 years later, the majority of Sheeran’s
third album ‘÷’ feels rather like recycled pop that is tiresome and decaying.
Album opener ‘Eraser’ is a Spanish-influenced despairingly cringe worthy track
in which Sheeran attempts to show his folk-rap ability whilst failing rather
dismally in the process. ‘Eraser’ is however saved by its rather catchy chorus
that will no doubt have stadiums singing amass. Similarly cringey tracks like ‘Perfect’
& ‘Supermarket Flowers’ make the listener feel rather ill whilst listening.
These tracks are obviously filled with emotion but to this blogger it feels
rather almost like boy-band moulded emotion created by his record label in
order to ensure that Sheeran’s diehard fans have something to cry to whilst
cuddling their merch.
Fear not readers though, ‘÷’ is not all dreadful. Catchy-anthems like ‘What
Do I Know?’ & ‘How Would You Feel (Paean)’ enable this record to gain
credibility. They are carefully crafted tracks that end up becoming extremely witty
within their lyric themes. ‘What Do I Know?’ is a humorous take on the lack of
respect certain artists get in the music game due to their youth, whilst ‘How
Would You Feel (Paean)’ is an endearingly awkward and amorous love song that is
atypical of Sheeran’s typical ballad style. I also surprisingly enjoyed Gaelic
inspired track ‘Galway Girl’, a song in which Sheeran’s label apparently wanted
to remove from the album due to its somewhat embarrassing sound. However, I
personally found it extremely pleasurable and entertaining. To me, it seemed like
a risky chance for Sheeran that actually payed off. It’s extremely catchy and
is very unlike the rest of this relatively ‘safe’ album. Kudos Mr
Sheeran.
Overall, ‘÷’ is guaranteed to make Sheeran much wealthier and is bound to result in more and more awards for the 26 year-old, that’s just the way the world works these days. Despite its rather lazy and tiresome quality, Sheeran’s third studio album is sure to be popular.
Overall
Rating- 5.5/10
Fave
Songs- ‘Shape of You’, ‘Galway Girl’, ‘What Do I Know?’, ‘How Would You Feel(Paean)’
Least
Fave Songs- ‘Eraser’, ‘Castle On The Hill’, ‘Perfect’, ‘Happier’, ‘Supermarket
Flowers’
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