Ed Sheerans hiatus came to an end this New Years Day, when he announced that he would be releasing new music in the next few months. His highly anticipated third album came out March 3 much to the excitement of his fans and for the most part, it was worth the three-year wait. Sticking with mathematical titles, ÷ (pronounced Divide) gives listeners a taste of his previous music while also experimenting with some new sounds.
Happier and New Man are breakup songs if there ever were any, while pre-album singles Castle on the Hill and Shape of You are pop anthems made for the radio.
Sheeran didnt have any boundaries with his musical sound, either. He starts the album off rapping on Eraser, but later on in the tracklist is Supermarket Flowers one of the strongest songs of them all a sweet piano ballad in memory of a grandparent.
Almost every song on the album will get stuck in your head, including the ones on the bonus track version. One that really stands out is Nancy Mulligan, an Irish-inspired story about Sheerans grandparents love story. Its not the only one that features a jig either Galway Girl has a fun rhyming hook that will surely be blasting from many speakers on St. Patricks Day this year.
One of Sheerans biggest hits from his last album, Thinking Out Loud, seems to have found a sibling melody in Perfect, a love song that is seemingly tailor-made for a first dance at a wedding. Its a great song and the lyrics are beautiful, but it also sounds too similar to his other material to be one of the best songs on the new album. Dive slightly outdoes it; being more creative and allowing Sheeran a chance to stretch his voice to its limits gives him a more gritty sound than most are used to hearing from him.
What Do I Know? is a simple stripped down song that isnt nearly on par lyrically with the rest of the album, but can still be fun to listen to if youre looking for a catchy beat. And for some entertaining language, listen to the very British Sheeran sing in Spanish on Barcelona.
÷ is a successful return to the music industry for Ed Sheeran, who has faced criticism for becoming too pop-based in the past. The new album definitely carries some of that pop influence, but it is also a good mix of the acoustic singer-songwriter style that many fans fell in love with in the first place with a completely new sound unique to this era of his career.