During a 2022 court battle over alleged plagiarism in Ed Sheeran’s songwriting – a battle that Sheeran won – an opposing lawyer described the British musician as a “magpie”, who “borrows ideas and throws them into his songs”. Detached from the matter of plagiarism, and shorn of any derogatory insinuations, this statement is something that is plainly true – of most songwriters, yes, and it is true of Sheeran, who has turned so-called musical magpie-ing into a real labour of love.
In the new 13-track LP Play, the hugely popular singer-songwriter takes on the role of sonic globetrotter, purloining sounds and ideas from traditions around the world. Sheeran has always been unafraid to integrate different musical traditions into his songwriting – whether that’s a reggaeton duet with J Balvin (“Sigue”), the Irish-inflected hit “Galway Girl”, or indeed the peppery, hip-hop-ish rap-singing that pervades his entire catalogue. Play, though, takes this ethos of cross-cultural integration one step further.
