Divide by Ed Sheeran

After almost three years, Ed Sheeran finally released his third album, titled Divide. This album, in my opinion, is his best one yet. It’s a hodgepodge of sounds, pulling in Celtic music from Sheeran’s roots and even a song sung partly in Spanish, but he hasn’t left behind his signature slow, tear-jerking love songs like Perfect and Happier. This album proves to the world that Ed Sheeran truly is a singer/songwriter, and he continues to surprise us all with the new music genres and types that he has mastered. From folk to hip-hop to pop, Sheeran has perfected each one and leaves every listener (except my AP Statistics teacher) pleased and happy with his music.

Sheeran spent most of last year off the grid, traveling around the globe with his girlfriend and experiencing the cultures of the world. His time exploring really reflects in the diversity of the songs on this album. Most of the songs in my top three are songs we’ve never heard from Sheeran, which is probably why I liked them so much.

#3 Bibia Be Ye Ye: The title of this song means “All is Well” and is an upbeat tune with a care-free attitude, urging listeners that “tomorrow’s a brand new day”. Sheeran actually recorded this song in Ghana, and the tribal tones evident in their music is shown in this song. This song is all about looking up and reminding yourself that things will get better no matter how bad they seem. The positive lyrics and entrancing rhythm is what drew me to this song.

#2 Dive: Dive could easily belong on X with it’s soulful tone, soft electric guitar, and slow, rhythmic percussion. It’s very similar to Thinking Out Loud in nature, but the lyrics are different. Instead of being head over heels for the girl, Sheeran first voices his hesitations, singing “Maybe I came on too strong”. He doesn’t want to “dive” into the relationship with this girl until he knows it’s real for both of them. This song is slow and poetic and voices a lot of people’s discomforts when starting a new relationship, when you’re unsure if the feelings are mutual yet. It’s beautifully composed and moving, which is why it landed the number two spot.

#1 Galway Girl: Holy shit, this song is probably the best thing to ever grace my ears. Ed perfectly infuses Celtic Folk with Hip-hop and it’s amazing. This song mixes modern, synthesized sounds with organic fiddles and it’s done so effortlessly you would think they belong together. Galway Girl tells a story of a girl Sheeran meets at a bar who seems to be the life of the party. She dances on tables and sings songs with the most beautiful voice he’s ever heard. They drink and they dance; it’s the perfect night that Ed vows to put into a song. I urge you to go listen to this song, it’s hard to put how amazing it is into words.

Overall, this is such a well-composed album that reaches all different corners of the musical spectrum. It was really hard to narrow it down to only three songs because they’re just all so good. Honestly, there wasn’t a song I didn’t like. Please go listen to Divide if you haven’t, I promise you won’t regret it!

Until next time,

Jordan