Ed Sheeran to Release New Album in May

Variety.com: Ed Sheeran announced his fifth studio album, “-,” will drop May 5, detailing his personal journey through “fear, depression and anxiety.” Pronounced “subtract,” the acoustic album will conclude his mathematical album era, which began over a decade ago with “+.”

The album was produced and written with Aaron Dessner of the National and follows his latest release “F64,” which dropped Jan. 19 and memorialized his friend and SBTV founder Jamal Edwards, who died last year at 31.

“I had been working on ‘Subtract’ for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be,” Sheeran said in a statement. “Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health.”

Sheeran said writing the album helped him cope with his pregnant wife’s health struggles, Edwards’ death and defending his artistic integrity in court: “I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out.”

The Grammy-winning artist’s previous studio album “=” dropped Oct. 29, 2021, featuring hits “Shivers,” “Bad Habits” and “2Step.” His Camila Cabello collaboration “Bam Bam,” released March 4, 2022, was nominated for pop duo at the 2023 Grammys. He is currently on his worldwide Mathematics Tour, which comes to the U.S. in May.

“For the first time I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life,” Sheeran said.