Disclaimer: I am not a music critic. I’m a business student who happens to love Ed Sheeran, who just released his third album, ÷ (Divide). I’ve been a fan of Ed’s since his first album + (Plus) and was lucky enough to see him perform at Irving Plaza July 24th, 2012 and have been hooked ever since. I even named my first car after him; safe to say I’m a huge fan of his.
Ed originally posted a photo on his Instagram that has 12 tracks but to my surprise, he released a deluxe version with 4 extra tracks bringing the total number of songs to 16.
I sat down last night and listened to the whole album in full and here are my reactions:
The opening song reminds me of classic Ed – proving that he’s capable of both singing and rapping. One of my favorite songs by Ed is “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” off his first album which exposed me to his rapping/hip-hop capabilities and now on his third album he has shown that he’s still got it.
Next song is “Castle on the Hill,” which to be honest, when first released as a single was not my favorite. That being said, it has grown on me so much and my roommate can attest to that—it’s been stuck in my head for the past 5 days and it’s all I sing. How can you not love that initial kick drum? It gets me so excited.
The more and more that I listen to this song, the more I realize how much I relate to the lyrics, specifically, “These people raised me and I can’t wait to go home.” I have a really close-knit group of friends back home, we talk every day and always say how much we miss each other. I wouldn’t be who I am today without them and Ed gets that.
Dive is a beautiful ballad but sounds a little too close to ‘Thinking Out Loud’ to me.
Shape of You has been out for a while now but I still get excited every time it comes on – it’s definitely one of my favorite songs on the album.
I have a feeling the song, Perfect, is going to be played at a lot of weddings and proms this year.
Leave it to Ed Sheeran to start an album rapping and half way through sing a song that makes me want to do an Irish jig. In an interview he did with The Guardian, he said that his label was “really, really against Galway Girl because apparently folk music isn’t cool. But there’s 400 million people in the world that say they’re Irish, even if they’re not Irish. You neet them in America all the time: ‘I’m a quarter Irish and I’m from Donegal.’ And those type of people are going to fucking love it.” And I think that’s going to hold true. I am indeed Irish and love this song, so Ed, you were right.
When Happier first started, I expected to hear James Taylor singing. Maybe that’s because I grew up in a house where James Taylor was always on, but I like it nonetheless.
New Man is one of those songs that throws so much shade so eloquently – calling your ex out for dating a guy who bleaches his asshole and owns $613 jeans (yes, I googled how much 500 pounds is in US dollars) – and then telling her how you don’t want to hear about it and her new bae won’t want to hear about you. I wonder what it’s like to date a musician and then have them write a song about you post-break up.
Straight from a diss track to a love song, Ed somehow makes it work.
Hearts Don’t Break Around Here is another classic love song that makes me want to be wearing a daisy crown and pretend Ed’s serenading me.
I like What Do I Know because Ed has been pretty quiet on current events but this song is relevant without being too in-your-face – “Love could change the world in a moment, but what do I know?”
If Ed told me he loved me, I’d die right then and there. Another slow song on the album, which Ed clearly knows how to execute well, but for me personally, it’s a little boring.
Initially I love the airy-ness of this song but as I listened to the lyrics and realized it is about his grandmother passing away, it struck a chord and made me want to cry. I love that this song was included and without the deluxe songs would have closed out the album. Ed likes to make me cry – with Small Bump and now this, he is king of making you sad after just having you laughing at his diss track.
If Barcelona doesn’t make you want to get up and dance, you’re doing it wrong.
Bibia Be Ye Ye? Yeah, Ed did that. With a little bit of research, I found that Ed wrote this song in Ghana with Fuse ODG and the title of the song is in Twi, a language spoken in Ghana. Bibia Be Ye Ye translates to ‘All Will Be Well.’ This song relays the message that se enioma enko ye, “if things aren’t going well, tomorrow’s a brand new day,” and that all will indeed be well.
I’m a sucker for folklore and folk songs – Nancy Mulligan is on the same playing field as Galway Girl. Much like Galway Girl, I want to do a jig to this song; the song gives off the effect of being in a pub with groups of people clapping and singing background.
The very last song on the album is called ‘Save Myself’ is a song about finally putting yourself first in a relationship. I think this is a powerful song to end the album on; the lyrics speak to anyone who has been in any sort of relationship where you give and give and give to the other person and they don’t help you in return. The last line of the song, “And before I love someone else, I’ve got to love myself,” is a message that so many people need to hear and I think by making it the last line of the album makes it that much more powerful.
As you can tell from my opinions of the songs, I’m a bit biased and underqualified, really, to be reviewing an album, but Ed’s music makes me so happy. I’m so glad the wait for this album is finally over – I’m excited to see what songs will be released as singles and am curious to see what others think of the album! While I don’t think Ed ventured out much from his comfort zone, I don’t think he really needs to; he sticks to what he knows and does it extremely well.