Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you most likely experienced the release of Divide by Ed Sheeran. Continuing with his mathematical album titles, he managed to divide his fans as well as the public eye with his new work.
With the two singles of this album being Castle On The Hill and Shape Of You, he really entered back into the music industry with a bang. The two songs sound completely different, somehow a nostalgic hommage to Sheeran’s older work.
Though the latter has received a bit of a negative reaction. Fans seem to be startled by the “club sound”. Additionally Castle On The Hill sounds oddly similar to other songs Ed has written. Nevertheless, it is undoubtedly incredible and has amazing production value.
Ed’s past music is just that, in the past. He has claimed to have worked really hard on this album, hence the long wait of almost a year.
Like a tasty wine, this album gets better over time. The first listen, for me personally atleast, was a bit overwhelming. The new sound as well as the excitement and thrill of the diverse genres somehow captured in one album made all the songs seem like a blur. After the third listen the detailed work put into each song becomes apparent and it is astounding. Listening to it back to back, you would never guess it’s one album. Ed loves to experiment, and this time he’s succeeded at including at least one track for everyone.
Switching between melodic pop to soulful acoustic and exotic rapping – it is full of surprises. Whilst you might agree that the acoustic sound paired with his old guitar may have been Ed’s “thing”, he has outdone himself with Divided.
My favourite track has to be either What Do I Know? or Dive. Although Supermarket Flowers pulls at my heart strings without doubt. Barcelona and Eraser are a good jam too. It’s hard to limit myself here. Luckily there’s a song for every occasion.
If you take anything from this, then be it that you need to listen to Divide.
