Photo from Ed Sheeran's Facebook account.
English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is set to release his latest album "-" (pronounced as subtract) on May 5.
In a lengthy post, Sheeran revealed that he has been working on the album for 10 years.
"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 said.
"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," he added.
A series of events led Sheeran to finish the album after the release of "=" (pronounced as equals) in 2021.
"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 spiraling through fear, depression and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air," Sheeran said.
"As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time, I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life," he added.
"This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract."
The artist, so far, has released 5 albums: "+" (pronounced as plus) in 2011, "x" (pronounced as multiply) in 2014, "÷" (pronounced as divide) in 2017, "No. 6 Collaborations Project" in 2019, and "=" in 2021.
He has 4 Grammys under his belt including Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for his hit “Thinking Out Loud” in 2016.
He also won Best Pop Solo Performance for his song “Shape of You” in 2018 and Best Pop Vocal Album for his third album.
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