Ed Sheeran // Plus
It's hard to appreciate just how far Ed Sheeran's musical wave has swept across the world; he's always been so huge here that it's too tall to peek over the parapet...
Ed Sheeran - + (Warner Music)
It’s hard to appreciate just how far Ed Sheeran’s musical wave has swept across the world; he’s always been so huge here that it’s too tall to peek over the parapet. We still remember Ed for a magical gig at B2 in Norwich, a Next Big Thing qualifier where Ed used the venue’s intimacy, his charm and his own prodigious talent to alarming effect. He won. Apparently you know – the UK knows, America even knows about the Sheeran effect. Aside from his lyrical dexterity, mature observations and the ability to get a million sounds from his mouth and trademark ¾ guitar, I think Ed has been dealt one lucky trump card – thanks to Facebook, Twitter and the whole webosphere, Ed’s generation are all talking the same language – they’re all on the same (social network) page and they share an affinity. Aside from his catchier-than-crabs singles, ‘The A Team’, and ‘You Need Me’, Ed delivers a mixture of downbeat movers like, ‘Give Me Love’, and reggae-influenced ‘Grade 8’. In its entirety, it’s an album that celebrates Sheeran as a laureate for the 21st Century, delivered with honey soaked vocal olympics. He’s given the album the title, ‘+’, and we can only glean that it’s a positive sign.
8/10 Tiny Dancer
