Oh wow I really wasn't expecting this! It really reminds me of 'Cry For You' by September as well... I see this being huge of course! Come on fellow Suffolk boy!

It wasn’t as instant as I was expecting on first listen. Think it will be a grower though

 

Weirdly for me, it doesn’t sound like his voice in parts. I can hear Niall Horan instead!

I mean it doesn’t sound like Ed Sheeran but I like it and it’s very commercial.

He had to change something and he has in an even more commercial direction.

He’ll be around for another 30 years :0)

Edited June 25, 20214 yr by Marty

oooh this is a bop

I’m so curious what his streaming numbers are going to be tomorrow and how it does over 2/3 weeks.

 

 

I think it's different for Ed and not what people were expecting, I think it's going to be huge.

I’m surprised so many people are liking this. Seems so bland to me.

It's decent enough, but for an artist of his calibre, this is something someone like Liam Payne or (as much as I love her) Bebe Rexha would release. It doesn't even really sound like him either, and after the initial chorus feels like it doesn't go anywhere.

 

I do think it will be a big hit for him though.

26 on Apple it’s going to be HUGE!

Hmm... it’s ok. Admittedly the chorus is an ear worm, but the song doesn’t really go anywhere exciting beyond that. For me it plateaus, which isn’t helped by being almost 4 minutes long.

 

I suppose at least he tried something different, and it is more my cup of tea than the majority of Divide - I’m sure I’ll listen quite a few times.

Ed's always known how to play the charts game, especially with lead singles. There was no way he was going to lead the era with anything other than a big catchy pop song, especially after Afterglow will have shown him that the public aren't as here for his more mellow acoustic stuff.

 

With Divide he jumped onto the tropical bandwagon and scored the biggest hit ever globally with that sound, last time he got Bieber on board, and this time he's gone for the male vocal house sound that's so popular now, but with aesthetics similar to what The Weeknd has been doing recently. Radio and TV will lap it up, and he'll swiftly move straight on to a bigger folky/rocky/MOR number for single number two and Bad Habits will probably sound like nothing else on the album - but it doesn't matter.

 

He's been rinsing and repeating this formula since X and why not, it works. And until it stops working he may as well continue to do it.

 

Also, niche reference, but my first thought was that this song is very Melodifestivalen, in the vein of successful male artist releases big, catchy, well produced pop song with a trendy sound and look that ticks all the boxes albeit is ultimately all a bit hollow and throwaway, and maybe unrepresentative of their general sound for the purposes of chasing a hit, but is huge anyway. If Ed was to write a song for Eurovision, this would definitely be the sort of thing he'd go with.

Edited June 25, 20214 yr by gooddelta

Ed's always known how to play the charts game, especially with lead singles. There was no way he was going to lead the era with anything other than a big catchy pop song, especially after Afterglow will have shown him that the public aren't as here for his more mellow acoustic stuff.

 

With Divide he jumped onto the tropical bandwagon and scored the biggest hit ever globally with that sound, last time he got Bieber on board, and this time he's gone for the male vocal house sound that's so popular now, but with aesthetics similar to what The Weeknd has been doing recently. Radio and TV will lap it up, and he'll swiftly move straight on to a bigger folky/rocky/MOR number for single number two and Bad Habits will probably sound like nothing else on the album - but it doesn't matter.

 

He's been rinsing and repeating this formula since X and why not, it works. And until it stops working he may as well continue to do it.

I mean, I get that but when you're so desperate for chart hits it kind of takes away from your artistry and integrity to just gain a big hit. I'm sure he'd still get a decent sized hit if he released music that was more authentic to him and actually meant something. It's not like he NEEDS more huge hits either, but if that is the road he wants to take then he is doing it perfectly!

I mean, I get that but when you're so desperate for chart hits it kind of takes away from your artistry and integrity to just gain a big hit. I'm sure he'd still get a decent sized hit if he released music that was more authentic to him and actually meant something. It's not like he NEEDS more huge hits either, but if that is the road he wants to take then he is doing it perfectly!

 

I agree that it's a hollow way of treating your career and artistry but I guess he's content with having the music that he actually wants to make on his album, even if he has to release generic pop as his lead singles. I wouldn't even be surprised if most of the album is more like Taylor's Folklore/Evermore, didn't he say years ago that his next album would be lo-fi and acoustic?

 

This song will stick out like a sore thumb no doubt but I guess retaining his throne as the biggest male popstar in the world for as long as possible is currently more important to him and he was terrified that leading with another No.2 and quickly out sort of song would damage his supremacy.

An overreaction much? :lol:

 

This is actually surprisingly good!

 

I sense another lawsuit coming his way though from Bronski Beat.

Wait... is Bronski Beat not an official sample then? He's 100% going to be crediting them eventually.

 

I don't mind this... but yeah, I was kinda expecting it to go off and explode more than it does. Maybe now that I'm over the initial "Well, that's alright but not enough" listen I can start getting into it a bit more.

 

From the clips I was expecting something as explosive and big as 'Blinding Lights', 'Physical' or 'Break Up Song' or something along those lines.

This is so f***ing good, it will stand out so much! It’s perfect for the summer :cheeseblock: one of his best easily

I'm really enjoying this. very instant. Quite different to what I was expecting, but it a good way. We didn't need another Afterglow.

 

I too can hear Niall Horan in the vocals; doesn't sound a lot like Ed at all.

 

And the Smalltown Boy comparisons are justified... it's like sooo obvious.

 

 

11 on Apple.

The instrumental reminds me of September’s Cry For You

 

I was struggling to think of the song I thought this sounded like and yes!! That's the one!

 

EDIT: And of course Bronski Beat! :lol:

Edited June 25, 20214 yr by Jαsє