This past week, one of the most talented singer-songwriters in today's music scene released their long-awaited album. Ed Sheeran released his album Divide and his music has been all over charts, all over the world.
The album itself follows Ed's pattern of using mathematical operations as titles, but it goes in a different direction, style-wise, then his other albums. He keeps with certain themes in terms of lyrics and his acoustic style, but strays away and uses island-like instrumentals to give an upbeat feel.
From what I can tell, it seems like Ed split the album into two different sections, in terms of tone. He first starts off with songs about love, throws in a song about grief, and then he adds in his summery island dance jams along with songs with a Celtic quality.
To start, a song that I truly enjoyed was "Dive," This is probably one of his best songs on the album because you can evidently hear his vocal and artistic talent. He writes about wanting a real and legitimate chance with a girl, where she would feel the same way without leading him on.
So don't call me baby
Unless you mean it
Don't tell me you need me
If you don't believe it
So let me know the truth
Before I dive right into you
On a different note, one song that I've been raving about to all of my family members and friends is the song "Supermarket Flowers." When I first heard this song, I started crying. It's one of those songs that are so genuine that you can feel every emotion and every tear that went into writing it. And after researching this song a little more, I found out it was about his grandmother's death and he wrote this song in the perspective of his mom. I'm sure anyone who listens to this song would start to tear up.
Oh, I'm in pieces, it's tearing me up, but I know
A heart that's broke is a heart that's been loved...
So I'll sing Hallelujah
You were an angel in the shape of my mum
When I fell down you'd be there holding me up
Spread your wings as you go
When God takes you back he'll say, "Hallelujah
You're home"
Finally, right after this song was an upbeat, "islandy" song that I became obsessed with, "Barcelona." "Barcelona" at first made me confused. I wasn't expecting this kind of style from Ed Sheeran, it's quite different from his normal upbeat songs like "Shape of You" or "New Man" (also on his new album) or even his classic love songs like "Thinking Out Loud" or "Photograph". This song takes you to an island party where you're open to love and ready to drink out of a coconut.
Well, get up, up on the dancefloor, move, it's a Saturday night
I fell in love with the sparkle in the moonlight
Reflected in your beautiful eyes
I guess that is destiny doing it right
And dance like they do in the Mediterranean
Spin you around me again and again, and
You're like something that God has sent me
I want you, baby, solamente
Like I said, almost all of his songs on this album are top-notch. "Shape of You" has been on the charts for weeks now, and almost 10 of these tracks made their way onto that list as soon as the album dropped. But I believe that even though this album is getting recognition on the charts, it should be appreciated because of the artist's talent and the amount of work that obviously went into making the album.
I have many (and I mean many) other favorites on this album, and I could go into why each song has their amazing qualities, but all I'm going to say is just listen to the entire album. It's definitely worth the time and you'll enjoy listening to this Englishman sing about love and life.
