Ed Sheeran’s discography is a demonstration of an artist who has perhaps lost touch with what has made him the mega-popstar he is today. Sheeran’s at his strongest with guitar in hand, minimal production, and a soulful acoustic vocal performance to round things off. However, on this project, he does his best to avoid his strengths as much as he can. Staying true to the title, each song includes at least one other artist, and more often than not, the other artist usually provides the more engaging performance.
Ed Sheeran loves reminding listeners about how ‘regular’ he is. This is displayed on the opening track as he partners with Khalid to tell fans that he isn’t one of the ‘Beautiful People’. Playing to the algorithms, it fits perfectly with the sad pop that’s dominating the charts currently. It begins an album that is defined by banality, a collection of songs which are predictably pandering to various demographics to maximise plays. While this does hold true for a lot of modern pop albums being released, the difference here is that the music just isn’t that good.
When No. 5 was released, the musical landscape was very different. Ed Sheeran has tried his best to keep up with the times since then, and this is displayed on his last album ÷. While that wasn’t a great album, it could at least be appreciated for its attempts to sound ‘current’, and since it’s Ed Sheeran, it was a commercial hit.
To describe No. 6 as a bad project isn’t to say that every song on it is completely intolerable to where it needs to be skipped if it’s ever played. The vast majority of the songs on the album are radio-friendly and are pretty listenable. There are also a few better songs on here, such as Antisocial, Put It All On Me and I Don’t Want Your Money, featuring Travis Scott, Ella Mai and H.E.R. respectively. Once you look past these songs, the rest of the album can only really be described as soulless, serving as a reminder of how more features doesn’t equal better songs, as has become the trend in a lot of modern pop music. Every song on this album only serves as a tick box exercise, to show Sheeran’s versatility perhaps. However, it only serves as a reminder that while he is a jack of all trades, he’s a master of none. It’s a display of how Ed Sheeran’s appreciation for the various genres on the album, especially rock and Latin pop, are very much just at a surface level.
When I first saw the track list for the album, I was quite excited, and a little worried, especially seeing an Ed Sheeran and Skrillex collaboration. Thankfully however, it isn’t just Ed Sheeran vocalising over Dubstep and the instrumental isn’t as nauseously obnoxious as you might expect from a Skrillex record. J Hus and Young Thug sound quite awkward alongside Sheeran, and while the verses on this track weren’t bad in isolation, coupled with such a poorly written chorus, it quickly becomes stale.
An Ed Sheeran album wasn’t the first place I would have expected (or wanted) a highly-anticipated Eminem and 50 Cent collaboration. Neither are at their best, with the Eminem verse sounding like a parody of himself, and Ed Sheeran continues to string together some meaningless generic rhymes about being a misfit. I Don’t Care, featuring Justin Bieber, continues this theme of uninspired lyrics and zero chemistry between the collaborators. The production is lacking and the chorus is lifeless. It’s a perfect example of a song designed to fill playlists and rack up streams with no real substance behind it.
Take Me Back To London features a refreshingly engaging Stormzy feature, but again, the vocal chemistry between the two just sounds forced. The production is predictable, and nothing that would be considered to be moving the UK rap scene forward. South of the Border features similarly predictable production considering it’s a Latin pop record. It’s a tough listen, as Ed Sheeran fetishizes Latin women throughout his verse. The title is discomforting, as well as Sheeran inviting two Latin women to feature on the song. While the track itself is not awful, the context of it almost makes it unlistenable, and at least an uncomfortable experience when thinking about it contextually.
Probably the worst song on the album is its closer, featuring Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars. It’s an attempt to create a modern rock song but it lacks any sort of innovation. The guitar riffs are bland and unimaginative, with the vocal performances of Mars and Sheeran sounding completely out of place. Vocal chemistry is also non-existent between the two.
When making this album, it seems as if Ed Sheeran sat down with his label and brainstormed artists who they thought would maximise their profits. It’s a project that is trying to include a song for every music fan that has ever heard of Ed Sheeran. The result is that it sounds inauthentic and pandering. Sheeran succeeded at creating a collection of songs that displays a variety of genres in their blandest, most radio-friendly form. He isn’t a bad artist by any means, but once you remove Sheeran’s guitar and balladry, you’re left with an artist who allows his need to please every type of music fan take away from his intentions of creating soulful, quality music.
ABOUT THE RECORD:
Release Date: July 12, 2019
Label: Asylum Records / Atlantic Records
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