Sheeran’s ‘Divide’ delivers emotions

Ed Sheerans third studio album has some hits and misses as he brings fans on another musically emotional rollercoaster.

Ed Sheeran’s third studio album has some hits and misses as he brings fans on another musically emotional rollercoaster.

By Tatianna Salisbury

“Divide,” Ed Sheeran’s third studio album, is a compelling accumulation of his talent and perspective. While each song is different in tone and meaning, the album collects each corner of your heart and pieces them together through emotional ballads and goofy lyrics.

There’s no consistency throughout the album. Each song is about a different love or features a different sound. Sheeran does a remarkable job of relating to his audience. His songs combine familiar emotions and situations that everyone has found themselves in at some point or another. He is heartbroken, bitter, reflective and optimistic all at once.

The big hits of the album are recognizable almost instantly. “Shape of You,” released as a single Jan. 6, tells the story of a boy and girl meeting and falling in love on the dancefloor. Fast lyrics and upbeat melody come together for a definite crowd-pleaser. “Castle On the Hill,” his second single, begs you to sing along as Sheeran reflects on his childhood. He reminisces about memories, good and bad, evoking feelings of nostalgia in his audience.

There is something for everyone in this album. If you like grand love stories and swelling orchestras, “Perfect” is the song you won’t be able to take off repeat. It’s full of powerful strings and a warm story line. You can envision brides walking down the aisle as this song plays in the background. His lyrics, “I found a love to carry more than just my secrets,” leave you in awe and make your heart light up. Although the lyrics are touching, it feels like the same Sheeran we’ve grown to know: folk-pop trying a little too hard.

Sheeran experiments with fiddles and Celtic instruments in “Galway Girl,” in which he pays homage to his Irish heritage. He has a talent for combining genres of music from gritty rap to bubblegum pop and also making it impossible not to sway your shoulders. However, the constant Irish references are blatant, and the love story has been told before.

There’s no doubt that Sheeran is good at what he does and knows how to produce a well written, well marketed album, but the tunes are starting to sound familiar and tired. He’s the guy in the corner of the coffee shop, singing a tune about a girl that it didn’t work out with. We’ve heard the same lonesome musings in all three of his albums, just with different raps and guitar riffs. These album titles are more like a mathematical formula emblematic of Sheeran’s music: predictable and consistent.