Ed Sheeran is the biggest name in music. So when he announces a new album, it’s a great day for his legion of fans around the world. But while alongside news of the new album, called ‘-‘ (Subtract), Sheeran has also revealed how it grew from one of the darkest periods of his life.
Ed Sheeran said: “I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be.
“Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art.”
Sheeran cited the death of his friend Jamal Edwards, who he described as “a brother to me”, as well as a health scare involving his pregnant wife, Cherry Seaborn, as events that brought him towards having a mental health crisis.
At this point, he turned to music to help him through.
He explained: “Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.
“Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety.
