In an intimate setting, Ed Sheeran will give a concert in Berlin’s Admiralspalast in mid-April. The Brit introduces several songs from his new album and explains how they came about. “It feels like a therapy session right now,” says the world star at one point. And that’s how “Subtract” can be summarized quite well.
“I wrote a lot of songs in a very short time, all of which felt as if they were part of a story,” explains the 32-year-old to around 1,500 fans in Berlin. “It’s about learning to live on without anything.” For the most part, the songs on Subtract feel melancholy and haunted, with Sheeran singing about the pain and sorrow that has surrounded him of late.
“Saltwater” reflects his mood
In February 2022, doctors discovered a tumor in Sheeran’s then pregnant wife Cherry Seaborn (30), just weeks later the singer’s best friend, entrepreneur Jamal Edwards, died unexpectedly at the age of 31.
“When all these things happened in my life, you always think, ‘This can’t get any worse. And then more and more things happen. I felt like I was drowning in it and there was no escape,'” explains the Briton his emotional state at the time. Among other things, “Saltwater” was created in it.
The ballad states: “I feel free in the salt water. Embrace the deep and leave everything. It was only a dream.” He also wrote the single “Boat” at that time. “It’s about being stuck in a hole, not knowing how to get out of it, but still knowing it’s not the end. The waves won’t break my boat.”
Grief, loss and the end of youth
Sheeran’s melancholy during this time runs through the 14 songs. The melodic, extremely radio-friendly “Eyes Closed” is about never seeing his deceased friend again and “Life Goes On” is about the mourning phase after his death, which will never be completely over for him.
The songwriter is also melancholy on “End Of Youth”. “Sadness, depression and fear end youth and playfulness because it’s so real, so final, so all-encompassing. When the pain takes over, that’s the end of our youth,” Sheeran wrote on Instagram.
The father of two processed his wife’s diagnosis in the song “Sycamore,” which he wrote before driving to a cancer specialist. “We walked around like zombies for two weeks. We had little information. That it was a tumor, a rare form of cancer.” Because of the pregnancy, his childhood sweetheart could only be operated on after the birth. The wife and daughter are in excellent health today.
The liberating feeling of “everything is fine again” hardly arises on “Subtract”, although songs like “Curtains” inspire hope and the closing song feels less gloomy. In folk-heavy The Hills of Aberfeldy, which he wrote eleven years ago, Sheeran sings about his love for Aberfeldy, a town of 2,000 in the Scottish Highlands.
Vulnerable and personal like never before
The British superstar, known for emotional ballads like “Perfect” but also feel-good songs like “Shivers”, is more vulnerable and personal than ever on his new record. It is an “album about loss”, which was not planned at all.
“For the first time, I haven’t tried to make an album that people will love. I’m just releasing something that honestly and truly reflects where I am in my adult life,” Sheeran summarizes.
Produced by Aaron Dessner of indie rock band The National, “Subtract” is also intended to be the last mathematically inspired track (after ” “, “x”, “÷” and “=”). Despite the gloomy approach, the new work by the multiple Grammy winner is sure to be another mega success – accompanied, among other things, by its own documentary on the Disney streaming service.
Ed Sheeran’s album Subtract is out May 5th on Warner Music.
