Ed Sheeran Reveals Title of Next Album, Talks Constantly Writing Songs for Rihanna and Plays ‘Old Phone’ on ‘Tonight Show’

Ed Sheeran had a lot to talk about when he visited The Tonight Show on Wednesday night (March 26). In addition to finally revealing the title of his upcoming album, the singer also described the globe-trotting trip he took to record his new single, “Azizam,” gave host Jimmy Fallon a live demo of his famous loop pedal set-up, talked about his eternal quest to land a song on a Rihanna album and joked about topping his Tartantino-inspired 10-album career arc with a final life-spanning LP called Eject.

Whew.

Sheeran explained that the title of his new song translates into “my dear” in Farsi, inspired by the song’s Persian producer, Illya Salmanzadeh. “We were creating a lot of music and he suggested we create something within the Persian culture,” said Sheeran, who noted that they’ve done a full version in Farsi as well. The song recently got its live debut at a pop-up show in New Orleans, where Sheeran was joined by the second-line Soul Rebels brass band.

Though the song was originally created within a Persian frame of reference, Sheeran said that growing up hearing a lot of traditional Irish music made him realize the rhythms of the two cultures are very similar, but performed on different instruments. So, when he was in China working with classical musicians there he recorded a version with traditional Chinese musicians, and then did the same with Indian musicians, Irish musicians and bluegrass players in Nashville.

“Music is a universal language, even if it is all in a different language,” Sheeran said.

Sheeran finally confirmed that his upcoming album is called Play and that after his Mathematics album series, which included five studio records — + (2011), x (2014), ÷ (2017), = (2021) and – (2023) — his next run is based on an idea he had when he was 18. Back then, the now-34-year-old singer cooked up a 10-album plan, starting with maths, and followed by Play, Pause, Rewind, Fast-Forward and Stop.

“I’m kind of obsessed with [Quentin] Tartantino and I heard he was doing 10 films and he’s go his side projects… and so I want to do my 10 and do a side project here and there.” When Fallon asked if Sheeran would hang it up after Stop, the singer said he’s also toying with the idea of an album comprised of unreleased songs written throughout his life and then released on the day he dies as Eject.

Sheeran also described how he was inspired by Irish singer/songwriter Gary Dunne as a young teenager and messaged his hero on MySpace to find out how to use a loop pedal. He then took to the Tonight Show stage to demonstrate how he built “Shape of You” piece-by-piece, with Jimmy supplying the high “Oh I, oh I, oh I” backing vocals. He also shared a video from India in which he plays the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song on sitar.

And not for nothing, Sheeran said “Shape of You” was originally written for Rihanna and that every time he cooks up new songs for an album he always works on one on the side that he hopes she will pick. “Rihanna has the best taste out of anyone,” he said, possibly shooting his shot again for the singer’s mythical ninth album, while noting that his Justin Bieber hit “Love Yourself” was originally written for RihRih. “She always picks just really, really great songs.”

Always busy, Sheeran described a pop-up, two-day pub he’s hosting in Ipswich, Massachusetts beginning on Friday (March 28), where fans can gain entry by going on an old cell phone and sending in a video or message that is meaningful. Those messages will then be projected onto the walls of the bar for the filming of a music video. Sheeran, of course, also played the song that inspired the pub, “Old Phone,” for just the second time live to Fallon’s delight.

Fallon and Sheeran also teased the recent taping of one of the host’s signature disguised subway busking bits, noting that Ed did a killer cover of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” for surprised New York commuters.

Watch Sheeran on the Tonight Show below.

Related Images: