Ed Sheeran - - (Subtract) Ltd. (Clear Vinyl)

Ed Sheeran annoncerer udgivelsen af sit nye album ‘-’ (Subtract) - det sidste i hans årti-spændende Mathematic-tematiserede albumserie - den 5. maj 2023 via Asylum/Atlantic. Et album, der genbesøger Ed Sheerans singer songwriter-rødder, og som blev skrevet på et bagtæppe af personlig sorg og håb; ‘-’ (Subtract) viser en af de største stjerner på planeten i hans mest sårbare og ærlige udgave.

Ed fortæller:
“I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art.
Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.

Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumor, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiraling through fear, depression, and anxiety.
I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.

As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life.

This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.”


Siden han som 12-årig lærte at spille "Layla" af Eric Clapton på guitar, har Ed Sheeran haft en stor kærlighed til singer songwriter-genren. Med kunstnere som Damien Rice, Bruce Springsteen og Bob Dylan, som hans far John introducerede ham for, der blev spillet på repeat i hans forældres hus, var ‘-’ altid på Eds horisont. Sangene og skriveprocessen fik imidlertid en helt ny betydning og retning, efter en række hårde hændelser påvirkede Eds verden i 2022. Men én ting, der forblev urørt, var hans stærke ønske om at lave et album forankret i hans kærlighed til singer songwriter-kompositioner. Og nu hvor han gør sig klar til at udgive sit mest sjæleblottende værk til dato, fungerer ‘-’ som en påmindelse om, hvorfor Ed stadig er en af sin generations mest talentfulde sangskrivere; en kunstner der nedbryder sine egne oplevelser for fans at søge trøst og tilhørsforhold.

‘-’ er resultatet af en grænseskubbende Ed, der leverer den mest dybtgående sangskrivning i sin karriere. Albummet er udarbejdet i februar sidste år i samarbejde med Aaron Dessner (The National) på sangskrivning og produktion, efter at de to blevet introduceret til hinanden gennem den fælles ven, Taylor Swift. Efter at have skrevet over 30 sange i løbet af deres måned lange studieophold, er albummets fjorten sange nøje bundet sammen af en storartet produktion, der spænder fra nøgne, folk-inspirerede kompositioner til større, fuldbands/orkestrale arrangementer.



Tracklist

1. Boat
2. Salt Water
3. Eyes Closed
4. Life Goes On
5. Dusty
6. End Of Youth
7. Colourblind
8. Curtain
9. Borderline
10. Spark
11. Vega
12. Sycamore
13. No Strings
14. The Hills Of Aberfeldy