Ed Sheeran first burst onto the UK music scene in 2011 with his album ‘+’, pronounced Plus, which became a hit with songs like ‘The A Team’, ‘Lego House’, ‘Drunk’, and ‘Give Me Love’. His fan base grew rapidly and, by collaborating with artists like Taylor Swift and writing songs for the UK band One Direction, he was soon well-known in the States too.
It wasn’t until two years later though that we heard anything new from Ed, when ‘The Hobbit’ director Peter Jackson asked him if he would write and perform a song for the film. ‘I See Fire’ was born and once again was an instant hit.
His also wrote and performed his new song ‘All of the Stars’, which is not featured on the album, for the film ‘The Fault in our Stars’.
Now 2014 welcomes his new album, ‘X’, pronounced Multiply, which does feature ‘I See Fire’, but is better known for the song ‘Sing’ after its accompanying music video sped up the charts, featuring a Muppet version of Ed, where he… well… I can’t really find the words to describe it, so just go and watch it if you haven’t already. If you have seen it, you know what I mean.
I’m not sure what Ed Sheeran’s fascination is with having album titles such as ‘+’ and ‘X’, but the simplicity, to me, works well and is definitely easily remembered.
Featuring songs such as ‘One’, ‘Don’t’ and ‘Afire Love’, Ed Sheeran has once again swept fans away; the song ‘Afire Love’, in my opinion, particularly so – this song is Ed’s tribute to his late grandfather, and is definitely a tear jerker.
The album has 16 songs, which range from the slow melody of ‘Afire Love’ and ‘One’, to the upbeat anthem of ‘Sing’, to ‘Don’t’ and ‘Take It Back’ which demonstrate Ed’s strange habit of combining rapping with singing, despite his singing in ‘Take It Back’ that “I’m not a rapper, I’m a singer with the flow”. A rapper he claims he isn’t, but either way the style works.
There are several great songs on this album, some that just aren’t to my taste, but overall it’s an album that is well-worth buying.
I have a few favourites on this album: ‘Nina’ is definitely on that list, followed closely by ‘I’m A Mess’, ‘Photograph’ and ‘Shirtsleeves’, so if you haven’t heard them yet, I recommend that give them a listen.
Ed Sheeran is now gearing up for UK and Ireland tour which kicks off this October.
