Ed Sheeran: =

Ed Sheeran is without question one of the biggest pop stars of our time. To date, he has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians in the world. His three albums "+" (2011), "×" (2014) and "÷" (2017) went to number one in the UK, as did his guest album "No. 6 Collaborations Project". In 2021, the British singer-songwriter is waiting in the wings with a new album. "=" ("Equals") is the name of longplayer number five. The title continues his penchant for mathematical signs for the fourth time. Sheeran has written 14 new songs for "=", in which he repeatedly gives insights into his life and his world of thoughts. "'=' is an extremely personal album that means a lot to me. My life has changed profoundly in the last few years: I've gotten married, become a father, experienced loss. I deal with all of these issues throughout the album. I consider it my coming-of-age album and I can't wait to share this next chapter with you," says the 30-year-old. He enlisted songwriting support from fellow songwriters Steve Mac, Joe Rubel, Amy Wadge, Foy Vance, Elvira Anderfjard, David Hodges, Andrew Watt, Lou Bell, Natalie Hemby and Ben Kweller. For the recording he travelled to Suffolk, London, Sweden and Los Angeles, where he produced the record together with Fred ("No. 6 Collaborations Project") and Johnny McDaid ("÷"). His brother, composer Matthew Sheeran, was also involved in the album work this time. He contributed the string arrangements to the songs "First Times" and "The Joker And The Queen". The musician already revealed how "=" sounds with the songs "Bad Habits", Sheeran's tenth number one single, and a live performance of "Visiting Hours". They announce another versatile album between pop and singer-songwriter, danceable songs and ballads The colorful album artwork features a bright collage of butterfly shots that symbolize the album's common thread, "new life." The collage is underpinned by an abstract painting by Ed Sheeran himself.