Ed Sheeran’s Autumn Variations has divided critics.
The singer, 32, released his seventh album on Friday, just four months after Subtract, which was a searing look at his grief and depression in the wake of his wife’s health woes and the death of his friend Jamal Edwards.
In stark contrast, Autumn Variations turns the spotlight onto his friends, with Ed revealing he ‘wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time.’
The new record, inspired by classical composer Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations and a collaboration with musician Aaron Dessner, has left some critics impressed with his melodies, while others have lamented the loss of the raw and candid lyrics in his previous album.
It is the first non-collaborative studio album with a title which is not a mathematical symbol, following on from 2011’s Plus, 2014’s Multiply, 2017’s Divide and 2021’s Equals. The final maths album, Subtract, was released in May.
Mixed reviews: Ed Sheeran’s Autumn Variations left critics underwhelmed with ‘unimaginative ballads’ yet star is praised for making a ‘stylish departure’ from his maths symbols albums
The Guardian’s Rachel Aroesti awarded Autumn Variations two stars, pointing out that ‘plodding, genre-hopping songs all end up as unimaginative ballads’, noting ‘most songs eventually end up in the same realm: that of a bland, plodding vaguely sentimental ballad boasting at least one instantly memorable hook.’
NME’s Thomas Smith also opted for a two-star review, writing that Ed’s ‘second album in a matter of months, isn’t a flying start to this next phase of his catalogue’, quipping, ‘Spring and Summer can’t come soon enough.’
Three stars were awarded by The Independent’s Helen Brown, who shared: ‘There’s no standout tune on here to match Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’, of course, but there’s enough soupy seasonal sentimentality to fill the Royal Albert Hall.’
On sister paper, i, Ed Power also gave three stars, reasoning: ‘The smartest way to approach Autumn Variations is as an unexpected bonus. Much like the dynamic between Taylor Swift’s Folklore and the frothier Evermore, it is best appreciated as a looser companion to Subtract.’
Tipping over to the better reviews, David Smyth at Evening Standard awarded four stars, saying Ed is ‘still moving at a breathtaking pace, he has something to say with his music other than ‘Buy me!”
The Times’ Will Hodgkinson noted Ed ‘has a way of taking mundane aspects of life and imbuing them with real feeling within a melody that sticks in the mind. For all his apparent normality, that really is a rare skill,’ and awarded the album four stars.
The Financial Times also went for four stars, with Ludovic Hunter-Tilney sharing: ‘He’s an inveterate sentimentalist, but the mood is less mawkish than previously. The tub-thumping choruses that loomed like stadiums over Subtract’s songs are also less prominent. Autumn Variations may not rip up the formula, but it’s a change for the better.’
Four stars came from Metro’s Emma Harrison, who wrote: ‘From the heady happiness of falling in love to the depths of despair of heartbreak, no stone or theme is left unturned.’
New album cover: The singer, 32, released his seventh album on Friday, just four months after Subtract, which was a searing look at his grief and depression
The Daily Mail’s Adrian Thrills gave Ed four stars, noting that while Autumn Variations ‘feels less raw’ than Subtract, ‘there’s a mellow brightness to the music here that echoes a more familiar Ed, with Dessner’s stripped-back arrangements prompting some of the sweetest melodies of his career.’
The Telegraph’s James Hall gave the album five stars, calling it ‘a stylistic departure’ from his mathematical symbols albums, noting it is ‘commercial but acceptably adventurous – you don’t fill stadiums by scaring the horses – Autumn Variations sounds like Sheeran cutting free. And it’s bound to conker all.’
Autumn Variations is Ed’s first album by his own record label Gingerbread Man.
The musician explained in Autumn 2022 everything appeared to either be calm and settled or fell apart and imploded for all his friends, he said: ‘When I went through a difficult time at the start of last year, writing songs helped me understand my feelings and come to terms with what was going on.
‘When I learned about my friend’s different situations, I wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time.’
It is inspired by Enigma Variations by Elgar who created 14 compositions based on 14 friends, so Ed decided to do the same thing alongside Aaron Dessner who worked closely with Ed on Subtract.
‘We wrote and recorded non-stop and this album was born out of that partnership.
‘I feel he has captured the feeling of autumn so wonderfully in his sonics and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.’
Ed reportedly hinted at marriage issues with his wife Cherry Seaborn in the lyrics of Punchline about an imploding romance.
The lyrics read: ‘I can’t help but be destructive right now. It’s been weeks since I saw your outline.
‘In my room is a silence so loud. This is what losing hope might sound like.’
During the emotional chorus, it continued: ‘I can’t help it but I love you so. I can’t take this letting go. I still feel like we could work it out or something.
‘All I am is only flesh and bone. Why’s your heart so freezing cold?’
Ed, 32, and Cherry, 31, who have been together since 2015, tied the knot in 2019.
The couple are parents to daughters Jupiter, 15 months, and Lyra, two.
In another track, Ed detailed their ‘bumpy road’, and stressed in the song that it is ‘not the end of our lives’.
He sings: ‘This is not the end of our lives, this is just a bump in the ride. I know that it’ll be alright.’
In the song The Day I Was Born, he sings: ‘I broke apart from my lover a couple months ago, if they were here then I guess I wouldn’t be alone.’
However, the album is unclear which songs have been written from Ed’s personal experiences as he has previously spoken about the album being about both his and his friend’s lives.
On the rocks: Ed appeared to hint at marriage issues with his wife Cherry Seaborn, 31, in the lyrics of his new album (pictured in 2022)
