Play is looking at a nostalgic home video through the latest iPhone. It has a lot of the feels, but there’s too much polish to experience the authenticity.
Ed Sheeran has risen as the face of pop music every time he’s released an album. If you’ve frequented a club/pub/bar/party joint in the past 5 years, there is a good chance Shape of You would have played at least once. His sense of humour is appealing. His self-awareness bleeds into his songs. His memory is great, and he thanks those that brought him where he is. Now, he’s ready to Play.
Ed Sheeran: From then to now
Before I get into what this album is like, let’s have a quick run through his catalogue. When he started his initial “mathematics” series, he was a young man with a guitar and some songs. One of the more popular singer-songwriters of the generation-he has had a hit every year that has gone bonkers viral. His cumulative plays have crossed a billion-and they’re just going to keep growing. Through the years, he has collaborated with talented musicians and made live shows an experience worth absorbing. Sometimes there’s a band, sometimes it’s the same man who started making music from his bedroom.
His songwriting process has altered through the years, and it is interesting to hear. There are incredible, interesting stories about his life where crisis has turned into malleable, tangible tunes people can remember. This is something he continues to hold on to, even when he reaches Play. His music becomes a journal-not only of people and places, but what it teaches him to carry on through life. The simple Opening is your invite into the album, where you’re just supposed to press play and listen to the music he’s made.
Opening, the album
Simple finger style chord progressions grace through the years he started making music. He likes to serenade you into the experience itself. Next comes the ever so popular Sapphire, which became the “song of the summer”. With his trip to India encapsulated and a feature from the most streamed artist in the world, Sheeran made all the right calls with this. It swings-it has the Tik-Tok, Instagram groove to it to make dance videos to, and it’s right in Ed Sheeran’s wheelhouse.
You must remember, this musician took a song intended for Rihanna, and made it his biggest hit. Shape Of You was one of the simplest hooks that has been used in umpteen songs. With the song video and piano riff becoming one of the most recognisable, the whole song was done in 90 minutes. His songwriting for Perfect is a personal slice of life, altered to become poetic and visual from every angle.
Does tragedy always become good art?
Well, we’re digressing from his latest album right now. For me personally, Subtract has been one of Sheeran’s best albums. Born from several tragedies and pains that he was going through at the time, he dumped 10 years worth of work to reflect a few months through melodic therapy. This is the case with many other artists, using music as a cathartic medium.
What pops, and what doesn’t
Now, I am not one who compares albums, it’s the same as comparing apples and oranges. Different intentions, contexts and outputs. When you listen to Play, you can see Ed Sheeran peppering in “club pop” to stay a relevant moment with that kind of music. Leave him alone with a piano or guitar, the vulnerability flows like a poem. Is this a cohesive album? Not really. I am not playing to create one larger mood. I’m hearing Sheeran turn dials from polished pop to wallowing at his guitar.
Between Old Phone and Camera lies Symmetry-which lies in the same feel. However, the nostalgia of Camera and the phone that triggers so many memories doesn’t quite gel as a continued vibe would go. Do they come together as singles? Sure, it’s pop that fits a lot of pop playlists. Commercial, clean and catchy so that everyone can understand what’s going on. The entertaining reel form of a song. Does this come together as an album well? No, it’s more like a collection of music written as singles. Although pre fame Sheeran does peep through the lines every so often.
The fizz, and the fizz(le)
Ed Sheeran is definitely a good love songwriter. Imagine them as country styled tunes or piano ballads. He can bring you all the beautiful visuals of love and make you sing them to your partner within a few weeks. He writes the way it’s supposed to feel, which is why so many people resonate with his music. In his search for making different kinds of music, he amalgamates his old self with his new self, coming together in a capacity that might not exactly be fitting for what an album represents.
In terms of performance, he can put all of these together for quite a riveting tour in a few months. He peeps into relevance because he understands it, and he makes sure the business side is covered too. A decent, leaning towards average album where Ed Sheeran is in his Eat, Pray, Love years.
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
