Ed Sheeran is worried critics might actually like his new album Subtract: "All my biggest records, they hate!"
21.03.2023 - 15:47
/ officialcharts.com
Ed Sheeran has a very nice problem for his upcoming album, - (Subtract)...he thinks the critics might actually like this one.
The upcoming LP will be Ed's sixth studio record, as well as the concluding chapter of his Mathematics era, which began all the way in 2011 with his debut album +, with x, ÷ and = all following in the subsequent years.
Set for release May 5 2023 via Atlantic Records, Subtract will be a decidedly different affair from the arena-pop of Divide and Equals, instead its a forlorn acoustic album, produced by The National's Aaron Dessner, best known for his work on Taylor Swift's 2020 albums folklore and evermore, and his recent production on Gracie Abrams' debut Top 5 UK album, Good Riddance.
In a brand new cover interview with Rolling Stone, Ed admits that now he's making autuer, quote-unquote 'serious' music, he's actually quite worried that critics will respond positively to the material.
"All my biggest records," he told the publication, "they hate!"
The cover art for - (Subtract) by Ed Sheersn
He continues: "[But for] someone who’s never liked my music ever? And sees me as the punchline to a joke? For him to suddenly be like, ‘Oh, you’re not as shit as I thought you were?’ That doesn’t mean anything.”
As pre-publicity has revealed, Subtract will deal with some hefty themes - namely, as Sheeran tells, "super heavy" stuff from illness, grief and death - touching on the death of his best friend, SBTV founder Jamal Edwards, last year and the recent news that his wife, Cherry Seaborn, suffered some health issues during the pregnancy of their second child, where doctors found a tumour but couldn't operate until she had given birth (she is, thankfully, on the road the recovery now).
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