Ed Sheeran has now fully divided his music in this, the first major comeback of 2017.
He’s always had two differing styles: the acoustic, slushy
balladeer and the hip-hop courting loop pedaller. In this return, we have not
one but two singles that make that split explicit.
Everyone will have a favourite. For me, it’s the
dancehall-infused Shape Of You that
brings Sheeran’s style into more modern tastes with its infectious
syncopations, even if the idea of a Sheeran sex-jam may seem distinctly unappealing
to some. The counter single, Castle On
The Hill, sees Sheeran turning to the stadiums he’s so eager to fill on
tour, though the jangling guitars and mawkish lyrics veer dangerously close to
U2 territory.
Yet this divided approach seems to have only solidified his
fanbase. Where a double single release may have been a risk by splitting
streaming numbers as opposed to focusing on a sole track, he’s instead simply launched
to the top of every chart with both hits. Shape
Of You is slightly outperforming Castle
On The Hill, but to have two singles on a par with one another dominating
global charts whilst breaking almost every streaming record going is a
phenomenal achievement (he’s receiving an unprecedented 7m daily streams
worldwide). It’s a marketing strategy that’s paying off, building up huge anticipation
for the forthcoming album and with two solid tracks to boot.
I wonder what the inevitable ‘Subtract’ will bring in a
couple of years time…
