Ed Sheeran Is ready to rewrite the rules, his own, mostly. After a series of melancholy introspection and silent reinforcement, the global pop icon is ready to go out of the grayscale and into technicolor with its recently announced eighth studio album PlayOut September 12 via Gingerbread Records/Atlantic.
To mark the album, Ed Sheeran “Old Phone”, a hazy, heartbroken track produced with Ilya Salmanzadeh and Blake Slatkin. It follows the earlier edition of “Azizam”, a dreamy leadership with a Persian influence. He kept nostalgia alive and also launched @deddysoldphone on Instagram-an old school dump directly from his camera roll.
While Sheeran’s discography often traces a pure bow of love, loss and lyrical vulnerability, Play throws the rule book and favors intuition over introspection and beautiful chaos over control. The latest single “Old Phone” captures the tonal pivot so impeccably: it is raw, lo-fi nostalgia coated in a glossy shine, as if he is aiming through his past with both wondering and fatigue.
But this is not just Sonic Mood Play, it is a complete role reversal. The polished pop-heavy weight hands over the microphone to the wide-eyed explorer and channels the structures of India and Persia to a sound that feels edgeless and vibrant. “Azizam” (Persian for “My Dear”), which now has a version with Iranian singer Googoosh, and the upcoming album, is seamed along with global fragments: sweaty pub stops, roof bus gigs and improvised cowboy-hate karaoke sessions.
“Play Was an album made as a direct response to the darkest period of my life, “Sheeran shares.”[And] When I came out of all this, I just wanted to create joy and techniques and explore cultures in the countries I toured. “The record, created over continents and closed in Goa, India, pulses with freedom. It encloses everything I love about music and the fun of it, but also where I am in life as a human being, a partner, a father, says Ed.
His new motto? Fun or forget about it. “When I went into this album campaign, I said to myself:” I just want everything I do to be fun and playful, “says Ed Sheeran.” That’s why we build pubs for people’s stops, make gigs on open buses and sing in pink cowboy hats at bars. The older I get, the more I just want to enjoy things and enjoy the moments that are crazy and chaotic. “
And Play is exactly that: a lively detour from predictability, a disc that dances with disturbance and ditch the plan. With song titles like “Symmetry”, “A little more” and “The Vow”, the album promises an eclectic mix of tender confessions and offbeat -musings. It is still Ed Sheeran, just looser, higher and lets the world take the lead.
Below is the entire track list for Play:
- “Opening”
- “Sapphire”
- “My dear”
- “Old phone”
- “Symmetry”
- “Camera”
- “In other words”
- “A little more”
- “Slowly”
- “Don’t look down”
- “Vow”
- “Forever”
- “Sky”
Before addition/save Play Now and stream “Old phone” on all platforms – don’t miss the most playful Sheeran era yet!
Curious about what inspired this directional change? Do you have thoughts on the upcoming EP or ‘Azizam’? We listen. Tag us at x @celebmix and waste your tag!
