Ed Sheeran is back after a year long hiatus. The red headed singer got rid of his smartphone and went a whole year without texting, social media, and (most importantly) no new music. He stopped by the studio this morning to talk to Cubby and Carolina about his triumphant return to the music world, dropping two brand new singles on the same day.. “I didn’t want people listening to one song and judging an album off one song.” He said of his decision to release "Castle on the Hill" and "Shape of You" simultaneously. “The album is called Divide, so there’s lots of different sounds on there. Choosing one seemed a bit silly.”
Sheeran still describes his third album as an “evolution of the last record.” He even went so far as to say it’s better than his last one, which included some of the biggest hits of career like “Thinking Out Loud,” "Photograph," and “Don’t.” He had help from some pretty famous friends, too, which never hurts. Sheeran called up John Mayer to come record a guitar riff on the record. “I’m not the world’s best guitar player. I’ll never try to hide it.” Sheeran modestly told us. “It’s quite nice to be in a position where John Mayer can play on my record because I grew up listening to him and loving him.” It looks like Sheeran might have taken a few pointers from his friend John Mayer because his new track ‘Shape of You’ is quite a sexy song. Sheeran revealed that while he didn’t have ONE specific lady in mind when he was writing it, he just wanted to “celebrate the female figure.”
Ed Sheeran also stuck up for Mariah Carey after her New Year’s Eve performance in Times Square. “I feel like that could happen to anyone. That’s happened to me before when the in-ears just didn’t work.” The singer said in defense of her botched performance. “She’s in the middle of Times Square with no monitors. It’s really difficult. You can’t sing in time for that. I know people are watching that and poking fun at her, but that’s a really, really horrible situation to be in. You’re just there, powerless.” He even revealed that this happened to him while he was performing with his BFF Taylor Swift, so at least he didn’t have to deal with that crisis alone.
Sheeran is trying to stay grounded amidst his massive success. He said that taking a year off from everything, as well as having great parents and friends, has helped him stay grounded as he’s skyrocketed into the pop music stratosphere. He says he has to remind himself that he’s just a 25-year-old British boy and isn’t meant to be “going to bougie events in L.A.” While you definitely can catch him hanging with other super famous celebs, you can also catch him “doing tequila slammers with my friends in some really grotty pub.”
Sheeran’s third studio album Divide will be out on March 3rd and everybody will be able to pre-order it starting on Thursday night. He didn’t give any concrete details, but he promised that a tour will be happening after the album drops. We can’t wait!