He started working on it ten years ago. He wanted to create a perfect acoustic work, so he recorded hundreds of songs. But at the beginning of 2022, several events occurred that changed his life and work.
His pregnant wife, Cherry, discovered she had a tumor, and the necessary surgery could not take place until after the birth. Then suddenly, his best friend Jamal Edwards died and he had to go to court to defend his artistic integrity and songwriting career because he was accused of plagiarism. Within days he was drawn into a spiral of fear, despair and anxiety. He felt like he was drowning and couldn’t catch his breath.
That’s when songwriting became therapy for him. It helped make sense of his feelings and capture what was going through his mind in it. He did all this in a week, the previous decade’s work giving way to his new dark thoughts.
By the way, the day before the release of the album, he succeeded in the court for the authorship of the song. He was accused of “copying” Thinking Out Loud from the song Let’s Get It On by the late American singer Marvin Gaye. The heirs demanded an unprecedented sum of 100 million dollars, and Sheeran even stated on that account that if the court loses, he will quit music.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen, it would be an eternal shame. As bad as he was mentally, he did not sag or fall artistically. He created what he does best on the news. Flattering melodies that are not intrusive, but it is difficult to get rid of them in the mind for the next long moments.
His closest partner in the preparation of the album was the American musician and producer Aaron Dessner, known from the band The National and from the role of producer of Folklore (2020) and Evermore (2020), pop singer Taylor Swift’s indie folk albums. It was certainly more difficult for him to bring her to the acoustic sound than Sheeran. They certainly had something to say with him from the beginning, considering the similarly tuned work of their group The National.
Ed Sheeran’s new album cover
The problem with the board is the monotony. The tempo of the songs is usually medium, their mood is similar, and if we take into account the themes of the lyrics, twenty minutes is enough for the listener to have a picture that will not change. Fortunately, the album contains the song Curtains, with hope in the text, equipped with electronics, strings and piano and heading towards catharsis thanks to the bolder tempo. Definitely one of the best items.
The entire collection is not just a harmony of the singer’s voice and guitar. There is a whole range of sounds on it, whether it’s electronics, cello, violin, trombone, synthesizers or drums. They generally don’t cross the lines of what is acceptable in the context of Sheeran’s work. He doesn’t shine theatrically in the songs, rather he holds back slightly. Their main driving force is the voice.
Sheeran didn’t steal Marvin Gaye’s hit, court rules
culture
In the lyrics, Sheeran is not specific, rather he ponders, puts his feelings into words, states and agrees with ordinary human aging in the period when one finally understands that some things are irreversible.
However, he deserves praise for his courage, because it takes courage to be the most popular young singer-songwriter in the world and to release an album about departures, sadness and aging. In the whole story, the talent of the guy is confirmed again, which is authentic.
| Ed Sheeran: – |
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| Atlantic, 48:02 |
| Rating: 85% |
2023-05-07 17:09:37
#REVIEW #Sheeran #deal #dark #topics #News
