Review: Ed Sheeran multiplies his star quotient
It’s a story as old as Bob Dylan: a guitar-toting young troubadour heads to the city, gets a deal, hits it big and then goes electric. In 2014, his name is Ed Sheeran, he’s 23 and from a coastal town two hours from London. His new record, “x,†arrives on the heels of his Grammy-winning folk-pop hit “The A-Team.†It’s crammed with hits and will make him a star.
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FOR THE RECORD:
Ed Sheeran: In the June 24 Calendar section, a review of Ed Sheeran’s new album “x†(Multiply) referred to Sheeran’s song “The A Team†as Grammy-winning. The song was nominated for song of the year, but it did not win. —
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On “x†(which reads as “Multiplyâ€), the charismatic young redhead aims for pop ubiquity after years working the acoustic guitar and perfecting a clever mix of busker-style storytelling and rap-inflected rhyming. He’s teamed with one of the most successful pop producers of the last 15 years, Pharrell Williams, the “Happy†hit maker and co-producer of such pop classics as Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U†and Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot.†Sheeran isn’t hiding his aspirations, and in Williams he’s found his Rick Rubin.
The dozen songs on “x†carry his devoted listenership through a whirlwind few years that saw him touring the world with pal/collaborator Taylor Swift and perfecting the art of building beat-based songs live onstage using a guitar, sampler, foot-pedal and inventive layers of loops.
Extremely personable in front of big crowds, Sheeran’s the same charmer on “xâ€: more than willing to express deep emotions, but not through whiny emo-rock poetics but with a working-class chattiness and the sing-song raps of a bloke sharing yarns over some pints.
Sheeran’s a promising writer, even if he hasn’t fully determined what separates tepid from vivid metaphor. For every Dylan and Beck Hansen rolling down highways in private buses are a dozen Everlast and G Love would-bes getting splashed in their wake. At his most unconvincing, Sheeran cuts it close. Flames burn bright inside his eyes on the strum-happy confession “I’m a Mess,†signifying, as always, confused desire. In asking forgiveness on the otherwise lovely ballad “Bloodstream,†he sings of “scars upon a broke-hearted lover.†“Tenerife Sea†is a love song in the vein of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight†and Ginuwine’s “In Those Jeans.â€
Still, Sheeran’s able to tweeze exquisite moments and place them sparkly and vivid into the crown of a song. On “Photograph,†he gives a snapshot to a lover and sings, “You can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans,†then “inside the necklace you got when you were 16.†The playful “Nina†isn’t very well rapped — he’s certainly no Eminem — but woven amid a piano and guitar dance pop song, it sure is catchy. That’s “x†writ large. Well-crafted, generous and willing to lay it on thick when necessary, but fun to be around nonetheless.
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Ed Sheeran
“Multiplyâ€
Atlantic
2 and a half stars
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