Ed Sheeran’s albums are always worth the wait, and there’s another one on the way. The British hitmaker announced the release of his eighth studio album Play, inspired by the darkest period of his life, and gave us a taste of things to come with the new single “Old Phone”
Play will be released on September 12 via Sheeran’s own record label Gingerbread Man Records and distributed by Warner Records Inc. “Azizam” was released as its lead single back in April, while the second single “Old Phone” was released along with the album announcement.
The standard edition of Play will feature a total of 13 songs, with such titles as “Sapphire”, “Don’t Look Down”, and “A Little More”. Sheeran prepared three more tracks for its deluxe and vinyl editions.
In an emotional post on social media, Sheeran described Play as a direct response to the darkest period of his life.
“Coming out of all of that I just wanted to create joy and technicolour, and explore cultures in the countries I was touring. 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,” wrote Sheeran.
