Free Music

After picking up two awards at this years BRITs, Ed Sheeran has been flying across the globe promoting his début studio album, ‘+’. This young Yorkshire singer/song writer, of 21, has become quite the phenomenon since the album’s release (despite the minimal sales that pushed him into the charts) but he has, in fact, been about for longer than one may have expected. Sheeran recorded his first EP, ‘The Orange Room EP‘ in 2005 as well as two other albums during the years that followed, yet these never really gained any mainstream attention to put him on the right path – but thankfully he never gave up. His final independent EP, ’No.5 Collaborations Project’, released early last year, found its way onto the iTunes charts without any label attached and thus helped him gain a contract with Atlantic Records.

‘The A Team‘, the album’s leading title, was the first to be released and it entered the UK charts at number 3. This particular single tells a lot about Sheeran’s style; a style that has remained consistent, yet effective. There is an entire reliance on acoustics and raw talent that – as I mentioned in my BRITs review – takes music back to the basics. Throughout the track there is a steady percussion that acts as a framework for the repetitive strings and simple piano tune; but the acoustic guitar is the dominant sound. The lyrics are structured simply as the lines are short but the imagery is very heavy and vivid giving the track a sense of maturity that contrasts with the minimal use of sound. Sheeran’s voice, itself, also contrasts with the powerful lyrics for there is a soft boyishness that is, in a word, sweet. Overall it is simply alternative, easy-listening with an emotional twist.

By Kacela