Album review: Ed Sheeran, ÷ (Divide)

Ed Sheeran’s third album is perfectly named. “Divide” is exactly what the English songwriter does: to some he is one of the great troubadours, to others the success of this likeable lad-next-door is an ongoing puzzle.

One thing is beyond doubt. His latest collection will neither cause fans to reconsider their opinion or bring fresh converts. It is, in short, thoroughly Sheeran-esque.

Sheeran is often hailed as a strumming messiah — but he didn’t materialise out of thin air. Acoustic rap has been voguish in the UK for the best part of a decade and the Sussex artist is standing on the shoulders of artists such as Newton Faulkner and Ben Howard.

His billion dollar idea was to replace their surfer dude hippy-isms with a more commercial outlook. This strategy is never more apparent than on Divide, a record which confirms Sheeran as determined to build on the extraordinary run that has seen him fill Croke Park twice and earn over €60 million in 2015 alone.

Certainly devotees will adore the sweetly twanging ‘Castle on the Hill’ and ‘Shape of You’. And if his rapped intro to Eraser teeters on parody, the lyrics are fascinating with Sheeran reflecting unflinchingly on the price of fame ( “money is the root of all evil and fame is hell . . . Don’t become disappointed with the man I’ve become.”).

A folk lilt meanwhile pervades ‘Galway Girl’, which treats Irish folk to a whirling Mumford and Sons makeover. Album number three is when artists typically start to look towards unexplored musical avenues.

On Divide Ed Sheeran is mostly interesting in sounding like Ed Sheeran. As a restatement of his musical principles it is perfectly fine. But even die-hard Ed-heads may be faintly disappointed he didn’t push himself further.