The musical return of Ed Sheeran it cannot be treated as a simple disk output. At each stage where the British soloist reveals new details about his songs or his studio album, it becomes clear that the personal and sentimental dimension of this LP is gigantic.
This was confirmed by the artist himself through his social networks. Accompanied by two black and white images, he explained in a simple but very moving way the person to whom the first business card of his new album is dedicated: To subtract.
“Eyes Closed is out March 24, you can pre-order it now. This song is about losing someone, feeling like every time you go out you expect to run into them, and everything reminds you what he’s done and what he’s done together. Sometimes it’s enough to step out of reality to numb the pain of loss, but some things bring you back to it. Blue used to be Jamal’s color, but now it’s t’s all I feel. And I guess music helps to heal, so I’m dancing with my eyes closed trying to get over it x” posted Ed Sheeran.
Jamal Edwards, his friend for decades and who became one of his first musical godfathers is the origin and recipient of this song. The Englishman confesses his infinite sadness (with the pun using the blue term) after this loss.
Eyes closed joins the list of tributes in the career of the musician. With The Visiting Hours he managed to pay homage to his good friend Michael Gudinski and just a year later he did it again with Jamal Edwards thanks to his song for F64 on SBTV.
A whole storm of emotions that changed Ed Sheeran’s perspective on life: “”I’ve 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 of it. should be. . So, at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and even the way I viewed music and art. Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thinking about what the songs should be, I just wrote what popped into my head. And just a week ago, I replaced decades of work with my deepest, darkest thoughts. In less than a month, my pregnant wife was found to have a tumor with no treatment possible until delivery, my best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly, and I saw myself defending the integrity of my family in court. my career as a composer I was in a spiral of fear, depression and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, my head below the surface, out of breath but unable to find air. As an artist, I didn’t feel like I could get my work out into the world without really feeling what it represents where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. . This album is completely that. It’s opening the trap to my soul for the first time. I’m not trying to make an album that people might like. I try to post something that is honest and truthful about where I am in my adult life. This is my final journal entry for February and my way of making sense of it all. It’s Subtract.”