ALBUM REVIEW: "divide" by Ed Sheeran

   I should preface this review by saying that I have always admired what Ed Sheeran has done from a distance; he manages to sit amongst the pop charts with often nothing but him and his guitar, and is a breath of fresh air in the over saturated pop landscape. I guess I kind of find myself cheering when guitar driven music or singer-songwriter tunes make it up into the pop charts. Having said this, however, I have never considered myself to be an Ed Sheeran fan; once I have actually listened to his music by itself I have never been overly blown away by anything particularly.
   Divide definitely isn't Ed's worst album (it far surpasses X for me in a lot of areas), but unfortunately for the most part is falls back in to the shortcomings I have found in his previous work.
   For me I think my biggest problem is that I assume (or maybe wish) I am listening to a singer-songwriter album, and so I approach listening to Sheeran's music in the same way I would say a Tallest Man On Earth record or a Sun Kil Moon record. This leaves me wanting in a plethora of ways, because divide is essentially a pop album under the guise of folk music. There are moments on divide where Sheeran sheds this guise almost entirely - lead single "Shape Of You" is the best and most successful example of this - and it is then that his music seems to me to be the most complete and cohesive. There are other moments when he is completely buried in the singer-songwriter moniker, and these songs are equally as fully realised and complete in their sound ("Castle on the Hill" sounds like a more polished, sanitary Tallest Man On Earth track). But on divide Sheeran branches out into sonic landscapes somewhere in between these two worlds, most notably his increased use of rapping and hip hop influences. Whenever this begins to happen it pulls me right out of the track, and he seems to have decided to venture further into this side of his music on this record, pulling me further away.
   Lyrically, divide was like reading through a young teenage girl's Tumblr feed; there seemed to be a lack of any substance or weight to any of the things Sheeran is singing about, which is a shame because the lyrics were one of my favourite things about +. Every so often he sings (or raps) a particularly bad line that makes me seriously wonder how it got through the creative process unedited. The song "How Would You Feel" is the peak of everything cringeworthy, as is "Hearts Don't Break Around Here".
   I do think that Ed's music is at its best when he has decided whether he wants to be a singer songwriter or a pop star; either way he has the musical ability to write and perform some great tunes. But unfortunately for me too much of this album felt like it was lost in a kind of middle ground that doesn't really work for me.
   I can understand and appreciate what so many people obviously love about his music, but I have never quite cared for it nearly as much as everyone else, and divide doesn't do much to change that for me. Having said that, if you likely already are a fan of Ed and his music, I'm sure you'll love this album which is more or less more of the same sound he has honed over the years and brought to stadiums around the world.

   Favourite Songs: Castle On The Hill, Shape Of You, Happier and What Do I Know

   Least Favourite Songs: Dive, Perfect, Hearts Don't Break Around Here and How Would You Feel

   Rating: meh