Sheeran’s new album deserves undivided attention

Story by Noor Hannosh, Editor in Chief

After a year long social media hiatus, music artist Ed Sheeran made a dramatic chart-topping return with the release of his new album, Divide.

Sheeran delighted fans when he tweeted a cryptic blue rectangle and changing his profiles on all of his social media accounts to a blue rectangle. Divide, released on March 3, proved that this was a sign of a new era for Sheeran and his music.

On Jan. 6, Sheeran released the first two singles: Shape of You and Castle on the Hill.

Castle on the Hill was a typical Sheeran song, with the rhythms that fans have loved since he first rose to fame in 2012. However, Shape of You had a different tone for fans with a more pop music vibe incorporated into his typical acoustic style. This was a nice change because it appeals to a lot more people, gaining Sheeran new fans without completely compromising the musical personality that he is known for.

The album has an overall good flow and a wide variety of melodies. I can tell that his year-long hiatus to travel influenced his music. There are Latin American influences like on songs Barcelona and Bibia Be Ye Ye. Irish music influences can also be heard on Galway Girl and Nancy Mulligan.

Divide is an album that everyone can relate to because it has music describing so many experiences and emotions that we all deal with. There are songs about love and loss of love such as Happier where Sheeran tells the story of a girl he loved and lost, but he knows she is happy now, and Perfect where Sheeran sings about how much he loves a girl and how much she means to him. There are songs such as Eraser and Save Myself that send a message about self -reflection and improvement that everyone can learn from.

Sheeran maintains his singer-songwriter integrity with songs like Dive and How Would You Feel (Paean), which is good news for those of us who have been there from the beginning and fell in love with that style.

My personal favorites are Eraser, because of the self reflection aspects of the lyrics; Dive, because of the strong vocals and lyrics about being cautious about love; and Galway Girl and Barcelona because of their upbeat tempo and lyrics about being happy and in love.

If you aren’t planning on  listening to the whole album I would strongly recommend listening to Dive. It really proves how good Sheeran’s vocals and songwriting is, and if you do like that song, then you will probably get into the whole album, and then into the rest of his discography.

Sheeran has done it again, producing an album that can appeal to the masses. Divide has something for everyone, whether that be an upbeat pop song or a slow acoustic ballad about being in love.
An album with good variety will always be successful. I can tell that this album will be a chart topper.