subtract

Ed Sheeran is fresh off the release of his vulnerable, 14-track new album Subtract, and the 32-year-old superstar sat down with Apple Music’s Matt Wilkinson along with his album collaborator, The National’s Aaron Dessner, to discuss their experience working on the project together.

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“It’s totally different to any way that I’ve worked before,” Sheeran explained of collaborating with Dessner. “He comes with a finished product and goes, ‘Write what you feel.’ And there’s no like, ‘Oh, that line sounds a bit weird,’ or this. You write brain to page and the song’s done. And then you go in and you basically form it. And if anything, we strip back more from the recordings that he sent.”

Dessner noted that the duo immediately “clicked,” adding, “There was like a little wildfire. When we got together, we thought we’d try a few things, and we ended up with 36 songs or something.”

With a slew of songs showcasing his masterful songwriting, it’s hard to imagine that Sheeran has a favorite song on Subtract. However, he has a special connection to the songwriting process of “No Strings,” which details an unconditional type of love. “It just came from Aaron being on piano and me singing. And then we put it down and it’s as if the song didn’t matter. And then coming back to it’s now my favorite song on the record,” he shared.

Listen to the full Apple Music interview with Sheeran and Dessner here.

Ed Sheeran is less than a month away from completing his mathematical album equation with – (Subtract), and on Friday (April 21), he dropped the album’s opener.

“Boat” serves as a metaphor for depression, according to the singer, and its corresponding music video cements the message with its turbulent seaside landscapes. “‘Boat’ is the first song I wrote and finished for Subtract, it’s where it all began, and a good way to kick off the album,” Sheeran wrote on Instagram announcing the single earlier this week.

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The song follows lead single “Eyes Closed” as the second offering from the upcoming album, which is set to arrive in full on May 5 as the final chapter of the mathematically themed albums he began with 2011’s + (Plus).

“I had 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 it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art,” Sheeran previously shared about Subtract.

Two days before the album arrives, the four-part documentary Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All will begin streaming on Disney+ starting May 3, featuring never-before-seen personal archive clips, interviews and performances.

Watch the “Boat” music video below.