Iโve never really paid too much attention to Ed Sheeran. I knew he had gained a considerable following over the years but his innocent, every man, so uncool that itโs cool image never really appealed to me. I thought that his career would have a much lower ceiling than itโs had, so to see it reach the incredible heights it has now has been somewhat of a shock and enigma to me. Everyone seems to love him, fans and artists alike, so I figuredย Divide would be as good a time as any to find out what all the fuss was about.
The lead single off the album, โShape of Youโ, has been an undeniable smash hit and itโs showing absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon. I mean I get it, but I donโt get it at the same time. It has all the trappings of a hit song, a simple, infectious synth loop and catchy drums, but Iโm just not that into the song. I thought it was your typical chart aimed song but not a whole lot more. Which is a sentiment I have for a large majority of the songs onย Divide. On the surface theyโre aesthetically pleasing, but thereโs nothing wholly original about them. It wasnโt until he really dug into his guitar on songs like โDiveโ, โHow Would You Feel (Paean)โ, and โBarcelonaโ that I felt his songs really went somewhere interesting.
โI chased the pictured perfect life, I think they painted it wrong
I think that money is the root of all evil, and fame is hell
Relationships, and hearts you fixed, they break as well
And ainโt nobody wanna see you down in the dumps
Because youโre living your dream, man, this shit should be fun
Please know that Iโm not trying to preach like Iโm Reverend Run
I beg you, donโt be disappointed with the man Iโve becomeโ
While I may not know that much about Sheeran or his rise to fame, I am aware that he is one of the worldโs more successful songwriters for himself and others. And it shows onย Divide, as he whips out catchy hooks and melodies with ease, and all in a structure that sounds great no matter what heโs talking about. But, much like his production I found the actual content of his songs to be entirely too basic and neat, ultimately leading to songs that feel empty. Admittedly, Iย find conflicted artists to be the most interesting, and thatโs just not who he is; he wonโt rock any boats or alienate any fans with his subject matter. While I found his songs all pretty, idealistic, and sickeningly sweet, I often couldnโt help but find myself singing along to a lot of the tunes; which is probably the point of his music in the first place.
Have you heardย Divide? Whatโd you think about it? Do you find his music too sweet and innocent like I do? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to leave your rating for the album.