Ed Sheeran has always had a knack for storytelling in his music. He tells stories of finding love, heartbreak, and now a touching coming-of-age story about how him and his childhood friends haven't puked in a while.
"Castle on a Hill", one of the singles that will be on Sheeran's upcoming album, Divide, is a nostalgic flashback of what seems to be a fun, yet illegal snippet of his childhood. There are first kisses, cheap spirits, and underage drinking involved, so of course the song is mega-relatable to the almost everyone. The song itself sounds a bit One Republic/Coldplay-esque and it definitely has the ability to reach a large group of people. I can practically hear the tone-deaf fans singing it already. Overall, I'm not overwhelmed by this song's greatness and I'm not underwhelmed either. It's typical Sheeran, which isn't a bad thing.
"Shape of You", the second single that was released is a bit of a different story. Sheeran changes up his sound completely, making this song upbeat, punchy, and about as pop-oriented as "Baby Hit Me One More Time." He even tries his hand at being sexy, singing the lyric, "Put that body on me," at one point in the song. My thoughts on his frail attempts at sexiness are this: thanks, but no thanks. "Shape of You" is fun to listen to, but it doesn't seem true to Sheeran's style. The song reminds me of the very popular "Don't" that can be found on his second studio album, Multiply. Both songs could easily be categorized as radio-pop, and is this a good thing for Sheeran? I don't know. It's a good thing for his popularity, but as an artist, I'm not so sure.
My favorite music Sheeran has released still comes from his first studio album, Add(+). Popular songs off of this album include "The A Team" and "Give Me Love". To me, this music seems like Sheeran's pure sound: incredibly honest and uninterrupted by hopes of becoming radio-famous. This being said, Sheeran's music is always quality, which is more than I can say for a lot of popular artists.
