Ed Sheeran released his highly anticipated album, “Play,” on Sept. 12. Released under Warner Bros., it is the first of five planned albums named after audio controls, the others being “Pause,” “Rewind,” “Fast Forward” and “Eject.” In “Play,” Sheeran notably collaborates with various music producers such as Omer Fedi and Johnny McDaid. Since its release, “Play” has topped charts in Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and many other countries, but reviews of it are mixed.
The opening song of “Play” is aptly named “Opening.” The lyrics explore Sheeran’s personal grief, immediately setting an emotional tone. Specifically inspired by the passing of Sheeran’s best friend, Jamal Edwards, the track explores denial and transitions into a sense of drunken derealization. The initial slower segment has raw, piercing lyrics that contrast with the faster rap portion. “Opening” as the introductory song successfully catches the listener off guard, but this comes at the expense of the rest of the album. Starting with a climactic song makes the following tracks sound mundane in comparison, ultimately negatively impacting the listener’s perception of the other tracks.
The next song is “Sapphire,” which was inspired by Sheeran’s own experience touring in India, and suddenly shifts the album to an upbeat tone. For this song, Sheeran collaborated with Indian musicians to incorporate South Asian culture into his work, which is notably reflected in the unique style of percussion. The song’s title lies in its lyrics, which compare love to the shining beauty of a gemstone. The excitement of “Sapphire” starkly contrasts with the grief of “Opening.”
As the album nears its end, the penultimate song, “For Always,” transitions to unconditional love, adopting a relaxing tone that contrasts with the previous tracks. Through the lyrics, Sheeran reciprocates his love for his children and advises them to follow the stars, naming his kids after celestial bodies, “Lyra” and “Jupiter.” Overall, “For Always” stands out as a simple, slow love song that this album has lacked so far.
As the ending of the standard album, “Heaven” returns to the theme of grief. In the lyrics, Sheeran pleads for heaven to add “visiting hours,” accompanied by a slow melody that references the death of a loved one. Similar to “Opening,” this song is a tribute to the passing of Edwards, Sheeran’s best friend. However, in contrast to “Opening,” “Heaven” is more lively, representing healing rather than despair as Sheeran recalls the lessons he learned from his friend and vows to keep their memories alive.
My main criticism of “Play” is the lack of structure or a central theme. Starting off with such a strong, emotional song is immediately interesting, but it can leave the middle of the album uninteresting. While there is nothing wrong with having an emotional ballad and an upbeat track on the same record, placing “Opening” and “Sapphire” consecutively results in an abrupt change that leaves listeners confused.
Overall, “Play” features strong individual songs; however, the arrangement fails to create a cohesive narrative or theme, which detracts from the album as a whole.
