We are less than a week out from Ed Sheeran‘s fifth studio album, —. The album features production by Aaron Dessner of The National, who also produced a fair portion of Taylor Swift’s albums, Folklore and Evermore.
The upcoming album is said to be a departure from the pop sounds Sheeran had been dropping in recent years. In an interview with The Guardian, Dessner praised Sheeran’s craft as a songwriter and an artist, and doubled-down on his choice to work with him.
“[Ed Sheeran]’s made giant pop records that are easy to criticise, but on a human and artistic level, he’s so gifted and lovely,” he said. “It couldn’t have been more natural, fun and rewarding to feel him jumping off the cliff with me. Over time, I’ve tired of the ‘what’s cool?’ debate.”
For —, Sheeran and Dessner worked on 32 songs, though they settled on 14 for the final tracklist. “There were times when he tracked vocals that were almost unusable because he was so emotional,” said Dessner.
Since the sessions for — have ended, Sheeran and Dessner have worked on over 30 more songs, on which, Dessner says he can hear them improving.
— is out 5/5 via Atlantic. Find more information here.
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Source: https://uproxx.com/pop/aaron-dessner-ed-sheeran/