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British pop star will share a new project later this year, featuring the singles ‘Azizam’ and ‘Old Phone’
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Ed Sheeran has announced that his eighth studio album, Play, will be released later this year.
Play is scheduled for release on 12 September and will include Sheeran’s earlier single “Azizam”, which incorporated influences from traditional Persian music.
“Play was an album that was made as a direct response to the darkest period of my life,” Sheeran said in a statement. “Coming out of all of that I just wanted to create joy and technicolour, and explore cultures in the countries I was touring. I made this record all over the world, finished it in Goa, India, and had some of the most fun, explorative creative days of my life.
“It’s a real rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish, it encapsulates everything that I love about music, and the fun in it, but also where I am in life as a human, a partner, a father.
“Going into this album campaign I said to myself ‘I just want everything I do to be fun and playful’, so that’s why we are building pubs for folk jams, doing gigs on open top busses and singing in pink cowboy hats on bars.
He concluded: “The older I get the more I just want to enjoy things, and savour the moments that are mad and chaotic.”
A press release for the record said it would see Sheeran exploring “new musical ground through collaboration with producers and musicians from around the world”, while still exploring the sounds and themes that have helped establish him as one of the UK’s biggest pop exports.
“The result is a collection that plays with both the familiar and the new, creating a bold, pop-driven sound that only Ed Sheeran could deliver — a vibrant showcase of his artistry that feels both exciting and transformative, and promises to be one of the defining albums of the year,” the statement said.
Album artwork includes notes on Sheeran’s thoughts behind the record: “Play is leaving the past behind. Play is colourful. Play is dancing. Play is nostalgic. Play is mirror images. Play is capturing moments. Play is knee-jerk reactions.
“Play is telling people you love them while you have the chance. Play is longing. Play is getting lost in the night. Play is everything. Play is youth. Play is a gift. Play is now.”
Play will mark Sheeran’s first full-length studio album since 2023’s Autumn Variations, which was released after he concluded his Mathematics series of five records: + (Plus), × (Multiply), , ÷ (Divide), = (Equals) and – (Subtract).
Autumn Variations was regarded as a departure from Sheeran’s guitar-driven pop style, instead exploring a more muted folk soundscape.
“Sheeran’s reliably simple-slick hooks are delivered in muted style with shaggier lyrics shuffling over the top,” The Independent’s album critic Helen Brown said in her review.
“There’s no standout tune on here… but there’s enough soupy seasonal sentimentality to fill the Royal Albert Hall.”
The Play announcement comes as Sheeran releases a new single, “Old Phone”, which was inspired by the long-forgotten messages and photos he discovered last year.
The Grammy-winning British singer-songwriter told fans in an Instagram post from a new account, “teddysoldphone”, how he got rid of his phone in 2015 and moved over to emails.
“I just turned my phone off December ‘15 and that was it,” he wrote on Tuesday 29 April. “When I got sued, the judge ordered me to give up my old devices to the other side’s lawyers, to look through messages, emails, voicenotes, videos etc, to see if there [was] anything on there to help their case.”
Sheeran re-discovered messages from long-lost friends, estranged family members and ex-girlfriends, along with photos from the early days of his career and notes containing drafts and ideas for song lyrics.
He described the experience as “an emotional journey” that inspired him to write the song “Old Phone” on his phone at 2am while jet-lagged in India, where he was finishing Play.
“It feels like a song that should’ve been on my debut album, but also a song I couldn’t have written until I experienced real-life things happening to me,” Sheeran wrote.
“It makes me emotional to sing, I hope it finds some emotion in you too. Maybe it makes you switch on your old phone and have a look at where you were a decade ago too. Whatever it does, I’m glad I wrote it.”
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Ed Sheeran announces release date for eighth album ‘Play’ – The Independent
