Ed Sheeran Unveils New Studio Album ‘=’ Coming This Fall
After four long years, Ed Sheeran finally revealed his fourth upcoming studio album =. The “Bad Habits” singer took to Instagram Live for an opportunity to chat with excited fans about the album, which drops on October 29.
My 4th studio album ‘=‘ comes out October 29th, and is available to preorder today on all platforms, cd, vinyl and cassette. I started writing and recording this album June 2017. Its been a long, long process.
— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) August 19, 2021
Sheeran shared over social media that he began working on the album back in 2017. It is a continuation of his “symbol series,” which originated with his “+” album in 2011. “=” represents Sheeran’s current approach to life, as he faces love, hardship, and fatherhood.
“I’ve been through love, loss, new life, grief, and everything in between during the whole period of writing it,” Sheeran wrote on Instagram. “And I feel like it’s really a coming of age record,”
In addition to the album announcement, Sheeran released a video from an upcoming song, “Visiting Hours.” The powerful single is dedicated to friend and mentor Michael Gudinski, who passed away in March.
“I wish that heaven had visiting hours, So I can just swing by and ask your advice,” A line from “Visiting Hours” reads.
Filmed a live version of visiting hours in St Stephens Church, Hampstead. I finished writing this song going through proper grief for the first time, and for me its one of the most important songs on =. pic.twitter.com/R0XMd4DN6U
— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) August 20, 2021
Meanwhile, Sheeran’s manager Stuart Camp hinted at a potential = tour sometime this year (if guidelines allow it).
“If we tour for that long [two or three years], I’d imagine there will be two albums within that cycle,” Camp told Variety back in June. “If we tour for that long, I’d imagine there will be two albums within that cycle. If he wanted to, he could literally release an album of acoustic ballads tomorrow! Because this record’s taken so long to make, we genuinely have a lot of songs, so it could happen relatively quickly.”
It looks like fans are just as excited as Sheeran and Camp for the highly-anticipated album drop.
listening to Visiting Hours by ed sheeran pic.twitter.com/FUHarqSCnc
— lu (@irxnarmor) August 19, 2021
Omg 😭 Ed Sheeran new album this October!! I’m crying!! 😭😭
— Aly🌙🌸 (@iamAlyloony) August 19, 2021
And he really did named it “=“
He already completed the arithmetic 😆😭 pic.twitter.com/5Ffy4TbhwT
Fans can find a complete tracklist and released lyrics online now.
Writer | @IlanaDavis24
