Ed Sheeran Drops New Album ‘Play’ and First Single ‘Old Phone’

Ed Sheeran has revealed that his eighth album, “Play,” will be released on September 12 by Gingerbread Records/Atlantic Records.

The singer-songwriter released his new track, “Old Phone,” which he co-produced with Blake Slatkin and Ilya Salmanzadeh, to celebrate the album announcement. His first track, “Azizam,” was released earlier this month as a prelude to his album, and he recently created the nostalgic Instagram account @TeddysOldPhone, which features images from his old phone.

Global melodies from India and Persia served as Sheeran’s inspiration for “Play,” while the latter served as an influence for “Azizam.” The song’s title, which translates to “my dear” or “beloved” in Persian, was later made available by him and Iranian artist Googoosh.

”Play was an album that was made as a direct response to the darkest period of my life,” says Sheeran. “Coming out of all of that I just wanted to create joy and technicolour, and explore cultures in the countries I was touring. I made this record all over the world, finished it in Goa, India, and had some of the most fun, explorative creative days of my life. It’s a real rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish, it encapsulates everything that I love about music, and the fun in it, but also where I am in life as a human, a partner, a father. Going into this album campaign I said to myself ‘I just want everything I do to be fun and playful’ – so that’s why we are building pubs for folk jams, doing gigs on open top buses and singing in pink cowboy hats on bars. The older I get the more I just want to enjoy things, and savour the moments that are mad and chaotic. You can preorder play now, many many more playful things to come before it’s out x.”

Check out the tracklist for “Play” below: