Ed Sheeran is back in the public eye after a long hiatus. After the cheers of New Years rang out, Ed rolled in with an announcement on Twitter of new music to come. We patiently awaited as the singles rolled in. "Castle on the Hill" made us all feel nostalgia for a life we didn't even experience and "Shape of You" had us dancing around our homes. Then on Ed's birthday, he dropped a beautiful melody entitled "How Would You Feel". This one pulled on the heart strings for me, but little did I know what my heart would be feeling when the whole album came out!
March 3rd. A beautiful day! The world was introduced to Ed's best album yet! And I do not use "best" loosely. Ed said in an MTV interview that he truly believed his best work is displayed in Divide. Now if you haven't heard this album...listen to it right now. It's an experience from beginning to end. There is a bit of Irish tinge to a lot of the songs, upbeat music, heart wrenching music and even a beautiful waltz-like piece--written in 6/8 which isn't always typical with today's popular music.
This 6/8 tune is called "Perfect" and was the first song he wrote for the album! He also mentioned in his MTV interview why there was an Irish inspiration for some of his songs other than his background. He was a fan of an Irish band that was in touch with a friend of his. He recorded seven total songs with the band, but only "Galway Girl" made it.
Now as for the album art, the artist in me loved hearing Ed speak on the inspiration for that! He had met an artist named Damien Hirst who creates a lot of large scale spin art. He straps up a large canvas to a device that spins it. He allowed Ed Sheehan to come to his studio and experiment with it. Thus the Divide album cover was born.
There are so many interesting facts behind the new album. Definitely watch the full interview and look into any questions you may have about his music. The stories behind songs are always so enticing!