For Ed Sheeran, the release of a new album usually means a confident sweep to No 1 and steady dominance of the Top 40 over the subsequent months. But there is more at stake than usual for the 32-year-old songwriter when he releases his fifth album, – (Subtract), next Friday (5 May).
The record documents a series of events last spring that Sheeran has characterised as the most challenging period in his life. His wife, Cherry Seaborn, was diagnosed with a tumour that couldn’t be operated on until after the birth of their second child. His best friend, music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards, died aged 31 after taking cocaine. Sheeran was also subject to a high-profile UK court case in which he faced claims he had copied a pair of songwriters’ work in his 2017 smash hit single Shape of You.
