httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXM0JdAwabU
Ed Sheeran has three settings: coffeehouse folk-pop bro, as heard on his introductory 2012 smash “The A Team”; blue-eyed soul warbler, la the wildly popular 2014 barn burner “Thinking Out Loud”; and penitent modern rap-and-R&B connoisseur, typified in cuts like “Sing” and innumerable live performances of whatever the day’s big urban-radio hits might be.
Is it reasonable to expect more out of Ed Sheeran? T are performers of comparable skill who would kill to log reliable hits on different genre charts and release albums that feel like events on two sides of the Atlantic.
Ed Sheeran works best when he’s thinking on his toes, but he can reach a point w he tries too hard, and the song collapses on itself.
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss,” as the Who once said.
Three cuts that follow the proper album closer, “Supermarket Flowers,” showcase Ed Sheeran as a world traveler in a way the rest of the album only hints at.
“Nancy Mulligan” furthers the exchange between Celtic music and hip-hop offered earlier on “Galway Girl.” These bonus cuts are so much more interesting than a lot of what made it onto the official album that one wonders why Divide wastes any time on pat performances over expensive Benny Blanco beats when Ed could use this thing to explode his sound in a million different directions and creep into new overseas markets instead. Perhaps Ed Sheeran is comfortable being a quirky guitar guy who can croon you into your feelings and rap you back out of them.
Divide is Ed Sheeran showing up as sturdy and reliable as morning coffee.