Ed Sheeran announced it on social media! The March 24th will come out “Eyes Closed” The new and first single taken from the album “-” (Subtract) – the latest in its era of math albums intended for on May 5th.
“-” (Subtract) is an album that returns to Ed’s songwriting roots, written in a context of personal pain but also of hope.
“I worked 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 – said Ed – Then, in early 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 thinking about what the songs would be, I just wrote what happened. And in just over a week, I’ve replaced a decade of work with my deepest, darkest thoughts.
Within a month, my pregnant wife was told she had cancer, with no treatment until after giving birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was going through a spiral of fear, depression and anxiety.
I felt like I was drowning, with my head under water, looking up but not being able to come up for air.
As an artist I didn’t feel like putting out an album that wasn’t believable, that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is exactly that, it’s like looking deep into my soul. For the first time I’m not trying to make an album that people like, I’m just putting out something that is honest and true to where I am in my adult life.
This is the account of what happened to me last February and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.”
Since he learned “Layla” by Eric Clapton on guitar At age 12, Sheeran’s love of songwriting began. Grew up with the likes of Damian Rice, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan who played on repeat in his parents’ house – artists his father, John, had introduced to him – “-” was always on Ed’s horizon.
However, as the songs and writing process took on a whole new meaning and direction after a series of impactful events impacted Ed’s world in 2022, one thing that remained intact was his strong desire to make a record anchored to his love for songwriting and compositions.
‘-‘ is the result of Ed Sheeran pushing the boundaries of his artwhile delivering the most soulful songwriting of his career. He collaborated with Aaron Dessner (The National) on the writing and to production after Taylor Swift introduced them.
Ed and Aaron they started crafting the album in February of last year, writing over 30 songs in just one month spent together in the studio.
The 14 tracks that make up the album are seamlessly tied together by exquisite production for both the more acoustic tracks and the much more orchestrated ones.
This the Tracklists:
- boat
- Salt water
- Eyes Closed
- Life Goes On
- Dusty
- End Of Youth
- Colourblind
- Curtains
- Borderline
- Spark
- Vega
- Sycamore
- No strings
- The Hills of Aberfeldy
Ed Sheeran has appeared on the music scene in the Kingdom Merged in 2011 with his debut album “+”.
Quickly establishing themselves, “x”, “÷”, “No.6 Collaborations Project” and “=” followed – a catalog that saw Ed Sheeran become one of the world’s most successful artists of the 21st century.
Only in Italy his career boasts 1 diamond disc (Shape of you), 76 platinum, and 14 gold.