I didn’t jump right on the Ed Sheeran bandwagon when his first album, +, (called plus) was released in 2011. In fact, I couldn’t figure out why anyone with a sane mind would want to release an album named after math, so I just decided that it wasn’t worth my time. I also had quite the infatuation with Glee music back then, so getting into new music was a bit difficult. But I'm here now, and I definitely don't want to leave.
To be quite honest—I still don’t really know why Ed came up with those album titles--but hey, I’m not bothered by it in the slightest.
I can’t be, not when the quality of what’s on the album is so freakin’ good.
Divide is a great album. It swings, dips, peaks, and dives with every song, but what is most miraculous about it is that it moves. Divide is not an album you can’t move to, can’t be moved by. Whether you’re jamming to “Galway Girl,” as you’re speeding down the highway, or you’re curled up into a ball and rocking yourself back and forth as Ed croons “Supermarket Flowers,” you can’t help but feel a part of it all.
Last year, Ed took some time away from the spotlight and social media in order to work on his album, and now I understand why. It’s phenomenal. I swear, every time I think Ed can’t crank out more hit love songs, he kind of just laughs in my face and proceeds to write another freakin’ amazing album about them.
But there’s also something different about Divide. It’s only been out for a couple of weeks, but I felt something change in Ed’s tunes. He’s not only cranking out love songs, but he’s reaching to the people he hasn’t quite reached before. He’s writing songs with different themes, different sounds, and it’s going to reach a broader audience than before. My brother, the Ultimate Teenage Curmudgeon and Boy Band/Famous Artist Hater Extraordinaire, even managed to tell me that he really liked the sounds of “How Would You Feel” and thought it was a really good song, despite that it was written by “a much younger and much less wizardly-magical Ron Weasley.”
So, let me be frank—if you haven’t experienced Ed Sheeran before, you’re missing out. Divide is fantastic, and perhaps only a sample of what’s to come from Ed. But either way, you need to jump on board this bandwagon, and now.
I mean, for godssake’s—think out loud, if you have to!
