After an excruciating two-year wait, Ed Sheeran has returned with the first album in his new music series. It’s time to press play on Play!
Ed Sheeran is a name most people will likely recognize. He is known for songs like “Castle on the Hill,” “Perfect,” “Photograph,” “Shivers,” and “Bad Habits,” but now he has a new batch of earworms for fans to devour. The artist returned on Friday, September 12 with his newest release titled Play. This will be the start of his next album series called Stereo, with titles including Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward, and Stop. He revealed this on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon when asked about his plans for future albums, and fans couldn’t be more stoked to hear the next steps from the pop culture icon, but for now, it’s time to dive into the present with Play. Keep reading to view our full ranking of all seventeen tracks from the deluxe edition of this stunning album!
Regrets
Ironically, this is a bit of a regrettable inclusion on the album. One of Ed Sheeran’s most iconic trademarks is his combination of rap with classic pop sounds. While this has worked well for him in the past on songs like “Galway Girl” or “Shape of You”, this track just doesn’t hit the mark for me. Since this is the only song I really don’t enjoy, let’s press skip!
War Game
It’s not you, Ed, it’s me. I’m just not into it! “War Game” is just an extra level of fluff to this album in my opinion. It’s still kind of catchy, but I’d rather click play on a different song. Next please!
A Little More
How about a little less? Not my favorite song on the album, but this one at least sounds good and has a really fun video! The fourth single of the album stars Harry Potter actor, Rupert Grint, as Ed Sheeran’s creepy, but also sort of sweet, stalker alter ego. Grint and Sheeran have been friends for years, but haven’t collaborated since the iconic “Lego House” music video, where Grint first displayed the uncanny resemblance to the singer. The “A Little More” video features Rupert’s character facing Sheeran and accepting their connection to one another in the most hilarious way. Definitely check this song out as it’s really funny, but now it’s time to move on to better beats.
Freedom
The main chorus of this song gets a little repetitive on occasion, but overall, it’s a pretty sweet beat. It doesn’t particularly stand out, being in the most common key of C Major, but the notes still have a fun effect on the listener. This key is usually also considered the happiest note range, making the track pleasant to listen to. Let’s break free from this track and explore the next one.
Heaven
This is the last track on the standard version of the album, and it’s not half bad! The catchy cadence of the music rocks you into a calm and chill state of mind, leaving you on a positive note at the end of your listening experience. This is starkly different from the final track of Sheeran’s 2017 album, Divide (my personal favorite he has released so far) which left the audience with “Supermarket Flowers,” a highly depressing song about losing a loved one. That’s not how we want to end our listening experience! “Heaven” amends this trend, keeping the end of Play positive and enjoyable to listen to.
Problems
This is an incredibly fun song! It has a very catchy beat and makes you want to get up and dance. The song makes me think of “Am I Dreaming” by Metro Boomin, as they both have similar rhythms and carry the same kind of weight. The best solution for this song is to give it a listen!
Symmetry
“Symmetry” features a Hindi solo line that repeats throughout the song, roughly translating to “love is my lover.” It’s another wonderful example of cultural diversity in this new album and it elevates the level of fun each song brings, although it becomes annoying if you listen to it too long. The rest of the song is a delight and has a catchy rhythm. It’s kind of plain, hence the mid ranking, but it’s definitely an earworm.
Azizam
“Azizam” was the first track on Sheeran’s album and was also the first single, which was released way back in May. The word azizam is a word that translates to “my dear” or “my beloved” originating from the Persian language, Farsi. This song is one of three tracks that feature a second language on the album, and the inclusion adds a nice element of diversity to Sheeran’s newest release. Still, there are catchier songs on this album. Let’s check them out!
Opening
Now we’re getting somewhere! This is the first track on Play, and it features a brilliant balance between rap and pop music. It opens with a simple acoustic guitar melody, creating a sense of melancholy comfort. It deals with heavier topics such as losing friends, loved ones battling cancer, and seemingly endless lawsuits, all of which are situations Sheeran has faced within the past five years. He draws a line between the different sections of the song, shifting from pop to rap and back again. This effect is awesome, and it elevates the next song on the track with a perfect segway to it through a dramatic buildup in the instrumentation. This song is a triumph, and it successfully establishes this album as a showstopper!
The Vow
This is a nice and catchy song, something you might expect to hear when you walk into The Coffee Pedlar! It’s super fun and kind of reminds me of “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers. The song has a very laid back vibe and is beautifully chill. It’s good track to loop while you’re doing homework or de-stressing from a hard day of AP classes!
For Always
This song starts with an electric piano chime that sets its tone. It’s a really sweet track that gives the listener goosebumps. “For Always” is a great example of Ed Sheeran’s ability to easily switch between a gravelly rasp and a smooth voice. The rest of the song makes use of a pretty acoustic guitar and light vocal tones in the background to fill out the instrumentation. This song will be in my head for always!
Slowly
This is a slower song that almost takes the shape of a ballad. Sheeran’s tone adds a little bit of gravel as he sings the more desperate lyrics, much like he has on previous songs such as “Thinking out Loud” and “Perfect”. The key of E Flat serves the song well, making it a beautiful expression of love to the listener or whoever Sheeran wrote the song for. It’s a great track to add to your playlist!
Don’t Look Down
This is a soft and fast paced song that has some incredible vocals. Ed Sheeran’s voice melts on our ears as it ascends higher and higher, dropping only when the lyrics describe him falling. It’s absolutely beautiful! Try not to look down, or you’ll fall head-first into Ed’s stunning vocals, but definitely try out this track.
Old Phone
“Old Phone” is a very sentimental song with a touching backstory. The music video showcases a pub that Sheeran built for the purpose of staging a huge concert. At this event, which the video captures, every person who attended was asked to submit a video they have fond memories of. Each was featured during the runtime of the music video, and three were given special interviews to describe their video and the story behind it. This song uses a simple guitar before building into more synthesized sounds, providing a thicker level of connection between Sheeran and his listeners. This is definitely a highlight track for the album, and I highly recommend listening to it!
Camera
Wow. Just wow. This song will render listeners speechless! The opening reminds me of Owl City’s “Waving Through a Window” cover from Dear Evan Hansen. The beautiful synthesizer chimes don’t feel fake, and you are instantly sucked into another world. Often we try to capture every moment in our life with our phones, and we find ourselves slipping through time as we hurry to snap a selfie. This song reminds us to enjoy life in the moment and to never take it for granted. “Camera” is truly a masterpiece of musicality, and we certainly won’t need one to capture this song in our minds!
In Other Words
Listen, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m the kind of person who gags during love scenes in a movie. Don’t judge, but romance almost always makes me absolutely sick! (For the record, The Summer I Turned Pretty is absolutely wrecking me right now) However, this is one of the sweetest songs I’ve heard in a long time, especially from Ed Sheeran. It even beats some of his classics like “Perfect” and “Thinking Out Loud”! The main instrument used in this song is a piano with a very simple chord pattern, but it cuts deep into your soul as the chorus builds. In other words, this song is an excellent addition to the album and Ed should be proud!
Sapphire
What a song! The opening is Ed’s crystal-clear voice echoing in our ears before the awesome build up into this epic track. The drum drops a piercing beat and the music swells until the rest of this catchy song gloriously unfolds! Some of the best songs are the ones with lyrics in another language. There’s something extra fun about jamming out to words in Samoan or Swahili instead of the basic English jibber-jabber we’re all used to. This is one of the most diverse songs on the album as it features several Punjabi lyrics, a language originating from a region in the middle east. “Sapphire” also features Arijit Singh, a Bollywood artist who performs the all-Punjabi verse just over halfway through the song. This collaboration easily elevates the song to the top of my ranking and makes it by far the catchiest one on the album. “Sapphire” and every other song on Play is out now, and they’re waiting just for you! Go listen as soon as you can!
