Album of the week: "Divide" by Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is releasing his third album with "÷" (pronounced: "Divide"). On it, he proves just how wide-ranging his music can be.

The artist

British singer Ed Sheeran (26) made a name for himself in this country with "The A Team" in 2011. Since then, every single and every album has been a success: The first album "+" ("Plus") reached second place in the Swiss album charts and the second album "x" ("Multiply") made it to first place. He has already written songs for Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Robbie Williams.

The new album

"Divide" shows the breadth of Sheeran's talent. Every song is self-written, many of them self-produced or co-produced. There are 12 tracks (16 on the deluxe version), which are somehow different but still fit together. Songs for dancing in the club can be found on the album as well as tracks for cozy - albeit somewhat cheesy - hours for two. Sheeran demonstrates his talent as a rapper on the very first track, while Irish influences can be heard in "Galway Girl" and "Nancy Mulligan".

Playing tips

As a whole range is covered here, the recommended tracks are individual: those who are more into uptempo numbers will like "Galway Girl", "Shape of You", "New Man" and "Eraser". Fans of ballads will like "How Would You Feel (Paean)", "Happier", "Dive" and "Supermarket Flowers".

Verdict

"Divide" is certainly one of this year's must-haves. The songs, which are very different from each other, nevertheless fit into a "good mood groove" and are perfect for switching off and consciously listening to the songs. Sheeran proves once again that he is a talented singer and composer.

Ed Sheeran about "Divide"

Sheeran chose the title because "the album is divided", he says: "Half of it is acoustic love ballads and the other half is songs where I've tried out different things." Sheeran writes all the songs himself, almost all the songs on "Divide" are about specific girls: "All except Galway Girl. We were in the studio with an Irish band and we had finished all the songs we had been working on. So I wrote the song just to have another song to play. Something good came out of it," he says. The stories are all about his life: "The album started as a kind of retrospective album about me, my family and my friends, because there was nothing sad to write about. So I can't really sing about heartbreak."

https://play.spotify.com/album/3T4tUhGYeRNVUGevb0wThu

Live

Ed Sheeran will be performing at the Hallenstadion Zurich on March 19 and tickets are currently no longer available.

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