Ed Sheeran has unveiled details for his hugely anticipated new album. Titled “÷” (pronounced divide), the multi-GRAMMY award winning singer-songwriter’s third studio album arrives on March 3 via Atlantic Records.
“÷” will be available for pre-order beginning at midnight ET on Friday, January 13. All pre-orders will include instant grat downloads of the recently released “Castle On The Hill” and “Shape Of You,” which just broke the record for single-day streams on Spotify with 7,940,950 streams, topping Adele’s “Hello”.
Sheeran commented – “First off, what a week! The reaction to my new singles has been absolutely mind-blowing and I can’t thank you enough. My new album ÷ holds a very special place in my heart and I really believe this is my best work to date. I’ve been eager to get back and I couldn’t be more excited for March 3rd.”
One of the most anticipated global releases of 2017, “÷” sees the 25-year-old in his finest form yet. Drawing inspiration from a wide array of experiences and subjects, Sheeran takes you through a hugely personal journey; be that reflecting on past relationships, family memories, his musical career or his time off travelling the world in 2016. Musically, ÷ is a varied collection of beautifully orchestrated and emotive ballads, impassioned raps laid over hip hop beats, timeless acoustic guitar masterpieces, and innovative, idiosyncratic pop music. Constantly on the move, the album was recorded between LA, London, Suffolk and while crossing the Atlantic aboard the RMS Queen Mary 2. Executive produced by multi-GRAMMY winner Benny Blanco and Sheeran himself with additional production coming from frequent collaborator Johnny McDaid, GRAMMY winner Mike Elizondo, and BRIT-award winner Steve Mac. Sheeran also created the album artwork concept for “÷” , even painting the cover himself.
Unveiled in tandem last Friday, the album’s first singles “Shape Of You” and “Castle On The Hill” highlight a clear divide to his musical spectrum – the former being an inventive dismantling and rebuilding of modern-pop using little more than a loop pedal juxtaposed by a stadium-ready, rocker with hdriving beats and Springsteen-esque riffs. Together the two singles logged over 13 million global streams in the first 24 hours, breaking Spotify’s ‘day 1’ streaming record. With “Shape Of You” tallying 6,868,642 streams and “Castle On The Hill” landing 6,168,395 streams, both of the new tracks have individually had overtaken the previous ‘day one’ record holders (One Direction logged 4,759,698 streams with “Drag Me Down” in August 2015) marking another record-breaking milestone in his career. Meanwhile, the accompanying lyric videos received over 60 million combined hits, having amounted over 10 million views in the first 24 hours – these mark his fastest-ever video launches, with the accompanying official videos still to come.
Despite being out of the spotlight for nearly all of 2016, Ed’s name was still associated with some of the year’s biggest hits. As one of the world’s most in-demand songwriters, he penned “Cold Water” for Major Lazer and “Love Yourself” for Justin Bieber. “Love Yourself” is up for “Song of the Year” at this year’s GRAMMY Awards, earning Sheeran his 11th GRAMMY nomination. Sheeran himself is very familiar with this category – which specifically recognizes and honors songwriters – having been previously nominated for this award twice before, winning last year for his 7x-Platinum hit “Thinking Out Loud.”
Ed Sheeran – an 11-time GRAMMY nominee and multi-GRAMMY winner – has quickly established himself as one of the world’s biggest musical artists with over 22 million albums sold and 4.7 billion Spotify streams. The British singer songwriter’s second full length album ‘x’ (pronounced multiply) – released in 2014 – proved to be both a critical and commercial phenomenon. After debuting at #1 on the top album charts in 14 countries including Canada, the U.S., the album has since been certified 4x-Platinum in both Canada and the U.S., and earned two GRAMMY nominations, including the prestigious Album Of The Year. Additionally, “x” spawned four consecutive multi-platinum singles in “Sing,” “Don’t,” “Photograph,” and his global smash and biggest single to date “Thinking Out Loud,” which won a pair of GRAMMY awards, including highly coveted “Song Of The Year.”
One of the planet’s most popular live performers, Ed has played sold out headline shows at some of the biggest venues around the world, including Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, Suncorp Stadium in Sydney, and at London’s Wembley Stadium in front of 240,000 fans over 3 nights. Ed first broke through to the mainstream in 2012 with his debut album ‘+’ (pronounced “plus”). “+” featured “The A Team”, an international smash which earned Ed his first GRAMMY nomination (Song Of The Year) and went onto become that year’s biggest-selling debut single in the UK.
Sheeran launched his own imprint, Gingerbread Man Records, in 2015, with the signing of fellow British singer songwriter Jamie Lawson – whose self-titled album debuted at #1 in the UK – and Irish troubadour Foy Vance.
(TRACK LISTING ATTACHED)
ED SHEERAN
÷
(Atlantic)
Release Date: March 3, 2017
1. Eraser
2. Castle On The Hill
3. Dive
4. Shape Of You
5. Perfect
6. Galway Girl
7. Happier
8. New Man
9. Hearts Don’t Break Around Here
10. What Do I Know?
11. How Would You Feel (Paean)
12. Supermarket Flowers
DELUXE EDITION
13. Barcelona
14. Bibia Be Ye Ye
15. Nancy Mulligan
16. Save Myself
