- 2025-09-16
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MUSIC
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Ed Sheeran Releases New Album “Play”
British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran released his eighth studio album “Play” along with a new music video for “Camera” on September 12, 2025 via Gingerbread Man Records and Atlantic Records.
It is his first album in two years since the 2023 album Autumn Variations and “- (Subtract)”.
The album comprises 13 tracks (extended edition 18 tracks), featuring collaboration with Indian singer-songwriter Arijit Singh, produced by Ed Sheeran, Elvira Anderfjärd, Louis Bell, Cirkut, Omer Fedi, Fred, Ilya, Savan Kotecha, Steve Mac, Johnny McDaid, Blake Slatkin, and Andrew Watt.
The accompanying music video was directed by Emil Nava, featuring British actress Phoebe Dynevor.
On the album, he returns to a full pop as a singer-songwriter, while also incorporating diverse Eastern musical styles.
Ed Sheeran told Zane Lowe of Apple Music, “I think Subtract and Autumn Variations were a really good circuit breaker for me to just be like, ‘I’m a singer-songwriter, I’m going to make singer-songwriter albums and I am going to dip in and out of things when I feel like it.’ And I think that Play will be one of the last pop hurrahs that I’ll get away with.”- Ed Sheeran said of the album, “Play is the album that’s made me fall in love with fun again. Writing and recording Subtract was so cathartic but also so heavy. Going into Stereo after Mathematics ended I wanted to start with the polar opposite. Play celebrates love, life, culture, exploring, creativity and technicolour. I’ve loved making this record and the last 6 months have been just what I needed to get back into the swing of things - to reheat my love for pop, and popping up. It’s an album I’m immensely proud of, and just makes me feel good. I hope it does the same for you.”
- He added, “Play was an album that was made as a direct response to the darkest period of my life. Coming out of all of that I just wanted to create joy and technicolour, and explore cultures in the countries I was touring. I made this record all over the world, finished it in Goa, India, and had some of the most fun, explorative creative days of my life. It’s a real rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish, it encapsulates everything that I love about music, and the fun in it, but also where I am in life as a human, a partner, a father. Going into this album campaign I said to myself ‘I just want everything I do to be fun and playful’ – so that’s why we are building pubs for folk jams, doing gigs on open top busses and singing in pink cowboy hats on bars. The older I get the more I just want to enjoy things, and savour the moments that are mad and chaotic.”
Ed Sheeran explained some tracks for the album.
“Sapphire”
Sapphire was the first song I finished for Play that made me know where the album was heading. It's why I finished the recording process in Goa surrounded by some of the best musicians in India. It was an incredible creative process. I shot the music video with Liam Pethick and Nic Minns across my India tour earlier this year, we wanted to showcase the beauty and breadth of the country and its culture. The final jigsaw piece for me was getting Arijit Singh on the record, but it was a journey to get there and such an amazing day of music and family.”
“Azizam”
“I wrote Azizam after Ilya suggested trying out making music inspired by his Persian heritage and culture. I love learning about music and different cultures the more I travel and connect with people. It was like opening a door to a completely new and exciting world. I loved how a lot of rhythms, scales, melodies and instruments were different but similar to the Irish trad music I had grown up with. It was showing to me music connects us all, and really is a universal language. This whole album is about being playful, explorative, and celebratory. Hope you like it too. And thank you to Ilya for introducing me to such a fantastic world and culture.”
“Old Phone”
“I got rid of my phone 2015, and moved onto email full time. I just turned my phone off December ‘15 and that was it. When I got sued, the judge ordered me to give up my old devices to the other sides lawyers, to look through messages, emails, voice notes, videos, etc, to see if there’s was anything on there to help their case. In the process, I switched on my old phone. The first message was from my friend Jamal Edwards, who had recently passed away. The second was from my ex girlfriend who I hadn’t been in contact with for years. The third was a family member I haven’t spoken to in a decade. And so on. It felt like a time capsule, a time of life that I was in, and living at that time in 2015. Turning it on really spun me out, I found myself scrolling messages and conversations with people who are no longer here. I found myself crying at messages to friends who are now dead, who I won’t get to speak to again. I found old photos of me with people I was so close to then, but we’ve lost touch since. The whole experience was such an emotional journey. I wrote the song Old Phone on my own at 2am whilst jet lagged in India finishing the album, and recorded it that morning. It feels like a song that should’ve been on my debut album, but also a song I couldn’t have written until I experienced real life things happening to me. It makes me emotional to sing, I hope it finds some emotion in you too. Maybe it makes you switch on your old phone and have a look at where you were a decade ago too. Whatever it does, I’m glad I wrote it.”
“Camera”
“My original Camera music video idea was using private home footage of mine and Cherrys key moments of our relationship. But as you guys know, we are an intensely private couple, and some things we wanted to keep just for us. So I recreated a few key moments of our relationship for the music video with the wonderful Phoebe Dynevor. It was so fun shooting this video, almost felt like a holiday for the whole shoot. It was all done on iPhone, and directed by the wonderful Emil Nava. Hope you guys love the song, and the video. Both mean the world to me.”
“A Little More”
“I hadn’t worked with Rupert Grint in 14 years since “Lego house”, so didn’t know if he’d say yes to this idea. But I’m so glad he did. It’s such a fun, bonkers video. Longest video shoot I had ever done at that time, and deffo the most costume changes. Shout out to Emil Nava for always bringing my mad ideas to life. And Nathalie Emmanuel too for being amazing. Rupert, my brother from another mother, thank you for throwing yourself into this, it wouldn’t exist had you said no.”
“For Always”
“They’re very human things that you go through with your partner or your kids. There’s stuff that I can relate to with my friends going through the same things. I’m very vastly different in other areas of my life and things that I do, but I think when you are a partner and a father and a friend, you share many, many, many experiences.” - source : Apple Music
