Ed Sheeran drowns in grief, then shoots up for air in profound new album 'Subtract'

Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY

May 5, 2023 at 11:04 PM·4 min read

In his new docuseries, Ed Sheeran says “grief instantly ends your youth.”

That sentiment, shared in Disney+’s “Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All,” carries into “Subtract,” the sixth studio album of his career and last in his decade of mathematically titled releases.

Sheeran’s feelings of sorrow and confusion are profound on the album. They stem from a brutal February 2022 when his best friend, Jamal Edwards, died and Sheeran’s wife was diagnosed with a tumor while pregnant with their second daughter.

While a chunk of his success is attributed to swoony valentines such as “Shape of You,” “Perfect” and “Thinking Out Loud” (which was the subject of a copyright infringement case in which Sheeran was found not guilty of plagiarizing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On”), “Subtract” is dedicated to the love of a friend and the sensitivity toward his marriage.

The album, out Friday, is also the musical portrait of a man allowing himself to grieve to the point of drowning but at the last moment shooting up for a gasp of air.

Ed Sheeran writes with bracing honesty about the loss of his friend, Jamal Edwards, and recent illness of wife Cherry Seaborn on his new album, "Subtract."

How these songs will play in the stadiums he’s hitting this year (his North American tour launches Saturday) will be interesting to observe and probably is the reason Sheeran has added theater shows in several markets to preserve the intimacy of his raw lyrics.

“Subtract” features the delicate production of The National’s Aaron Dessner, one of the architects of Taylor Swift’s albums “Folklore” and “Evermore.” He and Sheeran wrote nine of the 14 tracks on the album, and while it might not be Sheeran’s most sonically gripping work, his honesty is unambiguous.

This is clearly Sheeran’s therapeutic outlet – and who are we to deny him that?

Here are some of the highlights of “Subtract.”

Ed Sheeran's "Subtract" album, out May 5, 2023, is a portrait of a man sorting through intense grief.

‘Boat ‘

The opening track of the album is steeped in melancholy. Sheeran’s voice aches with sadness as he sings over a simple acoustic guitar, but as he unspools the lyrics, he realizes that while the hurt may linger, there is still a path forward (“The waves won’t break my boat”).

'Eyes Closed'

The combination of an insistently picked guitar and Sheeran’s syncopated wordplay frame this most blatant ode to Edwards. “Every song reminds me you’re gone,” Sheeran sings as he experiences the harsh realization of loss. “The truth is now you’re gone … and life just goes on.” It’s one of a couple of up-tempo songs on “Subtract,” but its chugging rhythm is still starker than Sheeran’s usual electronic-synth pop.

'Life Goes On'

By song’s end, Sheeran’s voice hits with unfettered raggedness, and understandably so. A culmination of the loss of Edwards and the fear of losing his wife, Cherry Seaborn (she shares in the docuseries that she is cancer-free), the song – mostly acoustic guitar with touches of piano and viola – guides Sheeran’s seesawing emotions. There is “a constant gray in the clouds,” but “When I hear your name, I think of love.”

'End of Youth'

“It’s been a long year,” Sheeran notes, after a frank self-assessment that upon Edwards’ death he quit drugs and “tried to fill the void with wine.” He wonders, as he reflected in the docuseries, “is this the ending of our youth when pain starts taking over?” followed by the fear that his pain will never diminish.

Ed Sheeran says the songs on "-" were written after a series of challenging events in his life in 2022.

'Curtains'

The most upbeat offering on the album finds Sheeran emerging from his emotional cave. “Let me see the sun shine,” he repeats as a propulsive beat and prominent electric guitar lines that nod to The Cure follow his brightening mood. “I’ve not been this low, but I’ll be OK,” he decides.

'Vega'

Named for the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra (which happens to be the name of his 2-year-old daughter), the song shudders with unfussy beauty provided by acoustic guitar, strings, piano and a soaring bridge. Sheeran speak-sings “This week was heavy/I buckled under all the weight.” But, as he directs his thoughts to Seaborn, he reassures “Pain comes at a cost, but we got this.”

'The Hills of Aberfeldy'

Sheeran often pays homage to his European homeland – “Castle on the Hill,” “Galway Girl,” “The City” – and this time, he has crafted a romantic near-hymn about the Scottish town. His voice rings clear, with sparse orchestration allowing it to soar, as he reinforces his love with poetic lyrics. “Wherever I go I will always find/another stranger to share in the weight of my crimes/And I know you will never find/Another heart that wants you more than mine.” The song’s abrupt ending is effective, that last stanza lingering as listeners contemplate the full weight of “Subtract.”