Ed Sheeran is set to release his new album '-' (Subtract) on Sunday and has revealed the backdrop to writing this album was one of personal grief and hope.
Speaking about the new music, he said: “I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art."
At this point in Ed's life, his wife Cheery Seaborn was pregnant with their second daughter, Jupiter. The couple secretly welcomed their second child in May 2022 after their first daughter Lyra Antarctica was born in August 2020.
"Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts. "
"Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety," he continued.
"I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air. As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life."
"This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life."
This album is the last in Ed's decade-spanning mathematical album era after releasing his debut album '+' in 2011 followed by 'x', ‘÷’ and ‘=’.
He teaming-up with Aaron Dessner on writing and production after the pair joined forces following an introduction from mutual friend Taylor Swift, and the duo began creating the album in February last year.
They wrote over 30 songs during their month together in the studio with 14 eventually making it into the tracklist for '-'.
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