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Ed Sheeran
9 May 2025, 09:47 | Updated: 9 May 2025, 10:12
By Hannah Watkin
The ‘Thinking Out Loud’ artist is gearing up for the release of his eighth studio album.
Ed Sheeran’s next album is coming very soon.
The ‘Perfect’ singer will be releasing his eighth studio album in September this year, and dropped the album's first single, 'Azizam', on April 4.
So without further ado, here’s all there is to know about the ‘Lego House’ star’s next project…
Azizam
Ed Sheeran posts clip of performance rehearsal
Ed Sheeran’s next album will be called Play.
The 34-year-old officially revealed his title plans for his next album (and seemingly future releases too) during an appearance on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon in March 2025.
Ed Sheeran Reveals Album Title Play, Sings "Old Phone" and Talks Writing "Shape of You" for Rihanna
Following on from his series of mathematically named albums Plus, Multiply, Divide, Subtract and Equals, Ed is now preparing to release albums called Play, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Stop.
While chatting with Jimmy, Ed also revealed he is interested in the idea of working on a posthumous album called Eject.
“I kind of want to make an album for the whole of my life where you put different songs on and then it’s in your will that it comes out the day you die, and it’s called Eject,” he said.
“Imagine if when [Paul] McCartney passes away and there’s a record that he’s made that has a song from when he’s 16, there’s a song from when he’s 20, there’s a song from when he’s 30. It’d be fascinating.”
During the interview, Ed also spoke about how (inspired by Quentin Tarantino's dedication to only releasing ten films) he has been considering whether he will only want to work on “side projects” after releasing ten symbol-inspired albums.
Ed Sheeran's next album, Play, will be released on Friday, September 12, 2025.
Teasing what fans can expect from Play, he revealed on social media in March: “This whole album is about being playful, explorative, and celebratory.”
A post shared by Ed Sheeran HQ (@edhq)
In May 2025, Ed announced fans will be able to get an exclusive listen to Play songs via pop-up Play attractions in London, Madrid, Naples, Amsterdam and Cologne.
London's location coordinates are for the Southbank, near the National Theatre, from May 9 to 11.
Play’s first single is called ‘Azizam’, and was released on April 4, 2025.
‘Azizam’ means ‘my dear’, ‘darling’ or ‘my love’ in Persian, and was inspired by Ed’s collaboration with music producer Ilya Salmanzadeh.
Ed Sheeran – Making of Azizam (Studio Behind the Scenes)
Taking to Instagram to announce his new track, Ed opened up about how he started working on ‘Azizam’: “I wrote Azizam after [Ilya] suggested trying out making music inspired by his Persian heritage and culture…
“I loved how a lot of rhythms, scales, melodies and instruments were different but similar to the Irish trad music I had grown up with. It was showing to me music connects us all, and really is a universal language.”
Yes, a music video for ‘Azizam’ by Ed Sheeran was released on the same day as Play's first single came out (Friday, April 4).
Ed Sheeran – Azizam (Pink Heart Video)
The video was directed by Liam Pethick, and filmed on location in the US and at the grounds of Ed's beloved Ipswich FC during the promotional tour the singer did for his new album's first single in March, 2025.
Ed Sheeran teased several songs from Play following its announcement, and now the album's full tracklist has finally been revealed.
Play's tracklist is:
A post shared by Ed Sheeran HQ (@edhq)
Speaking with Variety in December 2024, Ed teased he’s “getting back into big pop for the first time in a long time” for his next album.
“It’s quite exciting,” the father of two shared.
A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos)
Ed released Play's second single, 'Old Phone', on Thursday, May 1. He teased the nostalgic song by starting another Instagram account called teddysoldphone filled with photos.
The song and new social account were inspired by him going through an old phone of his while looking for evidence during the copyright court case he fought and won a few years ago.
Ed released a music video for 'Old Phone' a week after its release as a single.
The video features Ed describing the meaning of his song, and getting fans to share their own similar stories of moving old phone memories, while documenting his building of a pop-up pub in the US town of Ipswich.
Ed Sheeran – Old Phone (Official Music Video)
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Ed Sheeran new album: 'Play' release date, songs, listen to first single 'Azizam' and more – Smooth Radio
