• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Entertainment Music

Ed Sheeran – X

By Ben Royston One would be forgiven for making the assumption singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran’s follow up album would not diverge much from his debut album, +. His first album was a tried and tested version of his previous released EPs, which shone with strong song writing and brilliant performances. Here is a growing solo artist […]

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2014-09-21 08:51
in Music
The London Economic

The London Economic

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

By Ben Royston

One would be forgiven for making the assumption singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran’s follow up album would not diverge much from his debut album, +. His first album was a tried and tested version of his previous released EPs, which shone with strong song writing and brilliant performances. Here is a growing solo artist with boundless talent. Although much of X could be seen as an extension of his debut, this album finds Sheeran in a very different place to the one we found him in three years ago. Sheeran’s ‘word-smith’ing is deeper and the production sharper and the album has a more pop sound (owing to the appearance of current top artist Pharrell Williams). Sheeran still writes what he knows best, sensitive serenades, intricate guitar work and brilliant grooves, but his tales of break ups and troubles of the heart have evolved and lyrically Sheeran is now one of the best around. 

Honesty and decency are the key themes throughout X. As confessions go, they don’t come more candid than ‘I’m a Mess’, where any sympathy has been dismantled as Sheeran searches for a “sweet surrender”. ‘Thinking Out Loud’, is a classic bluesy love song with sentimental and passionately sung lines such as “Take me into your loving arms/kiss me under the light of a thousand suns”, which create the aura of deep untainted happiness. ‘Photograph’ has the passion and execution of many an epic pop ballad; one that the singer went as far as saying it would be the track on the album most likely to “change his career path“. The drunken antics of lead single ‘Sing’, which topped the UK charts, sees Sheeran try his fortune inviting a woman for dinner. Pharrell Williams’ involvement with production and BVs creates a slice of radio friendly R&B. However the use of R&B doesn’t necessarily work on ‘The Man’, which is on the dull side. 

Unlike previously, Sheeran exhibits resentment, animosity and sexual longing in X. These candid emotions open up on ‘Don’t’, combining a catchy hand-clap beat with honest lyrics about an unfaithful lover in which a narrative that divulges details of a fleeting fling gone wrong is sorely revealed. Sheeran has certainly developed a more confessional approach to his song writing. Much like Taylor Swift or old school Fleetwood Mac, is there a better therapy for cheating partners than writing really successful singles about them? 

One of the highpoints of X is Sheeran’s most personal track, Afire Love, a fitting climax to the album. A superbly crafted song which crescendos to a chorus concludes the album with not just a sing-a-long but also a lyric that questions life and leaves the listener craving a happy ending of sorts. The narrative of the singer’s grandfather’s decline from Alzheimer’s is accompanied by the heroic love his grandfather held for his grandmother. It’s a song of simultaneous sorrow and faith, and is an appropriately poignant tribute. 

X is a truly great album and one of the best releases of 2014. Sheeran’s formula of modest arrangements, accompanied by heart-wrenching lyrics, may be similar to +, but after all, why fix what isn’t broken? Sheeran has, however, learnt from his previous work. Sheeran’s vocal performance is on top form, using everything from raw and passionate to a more delicate sound, but none the less daunting and utterly captivating. Using top producers Pharrell Williams and Rick Rubin has made this record sound polished and more accessible to a broader audience. And the ballads on X are probably his strongest yet, targeting the emotions of romantics all over the world. Just like +, there are love songs; there are stories of regret and anger and there are songs that don’t quite fit; but Sheeran has grown as an artist, as a singer and as a songwriter and multiplying certainly shows this progression from just a plus. Sheeran knows his audience and that his current skill is in writing chick lit style lyrics; but where he takes us next is how we will know whether to call him a truly great artist of our time.

RelatedPosts

The biggest band you’ve never heard of? Celtic-punkers The Dreadnoughts release new album

Sex Pistols to re-release God Save The Queen to mark platinum jubilee

Watch: Blistering Jamie Webster monologue shows why Tories ‘don’t actually care about us’

UK festivals are set to face ‘perfect storm’ in 2022 thanks to Brexit

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Drunk motorist banned after bashing into wall and more than a dozen parked cars

First vending machine for homeless people is unveiled

Trump supporter says she’d vote for Putin over Biden

40 second clip “enough to justify 10 years of The One Show”

A potential Lib-Lab coalition? Davey refuses to work with Tories

Racism in Britain ‘deeply hard-wired into our culture’ – historian

Babies can identify this negative human trait even before they can talk properly

Maureen Lipman claims cancel culture could ‘wipe out’ comedy but not everyone is convinced

We’ve found London’s worst property – it’ll cost you £200k

8 Out Of 10 Cats comedian Sean Lock dies: Lee Mack and Eddie Izzard lead tributes

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.