Mere months after his comeback album Subtract, British singer-songwriter and pop phenomenon Ed Sheeran has announced a new album due September 29, via his own label Gingerbread Man Records.
The LP, titled Autumn Variations, sees the “Bad Habits” hitmaker reunite with multi-instrumentalist and super-producer Aaron Dessner of The National, together with whom Sheeran first worked on Subtract.
Following a series of mysterious Instagram posts teasing new music last week, the singer finally confirmed fan speculations in a video announcement posted to his socials:
“Hello everyone, the sun is shining, but autumn is coming. I have an announcement: I have an album that I’ve made called Autumn Variations. This is a record that I was sort of making at the same time as Subtract – it’s what me and Aaron went in originally to make. […]”
Sheeran revealed that the title of the new album was inspired by classical composer Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. “He did 14 songs about 14 friends, so I wanted to make 14 songs about 14 friends and base it on autumn.”
In his video description, the prolific songwriter further elaborated on his decision to centre the album around an autumnal theme:
“Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded. When I went through a difficult time at the start of last year, writing songs helped me understand my feelings and come to terms with what was going on, and when I learned about my friend’s different situations, I wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time. There were highs of falling in love and new friendships among lows of heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion.”
Check out the album artwork below:
Autumn is finally coming! Autumn Variations, the new album, will be released on 29th September.
Pre-order & pre-save nowhttps://t.co/KTL8XSvxkR pic.twitter.com/B3LhoLjElZ
— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) August 24, 2023
Sheeran went on to credit his father and brother for introducing him to Elgar and the idea of writing 14 songs for 14 friends, before acknowledging Dessner’s contributions to the new project:
“When I recorded Subtract with Aaron Dessner, we clicked immediately. We wrote and recorded non-stop and this album was born out of that partnership. I feel he has captured the feeling of autumn so wonderfully in his sonics and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.”
The new album comes as Sheeran approaches the end of his record-breaking Mathematics Tour, which wraps up on September 23 in Los Angeles – just under a week before Autumn Variations hits stores worldwide. View the new track-list below:
1. “Magical”
2. “England”
3. “Amazing”
4. “Plastic Bag”
5. “Blue”
6. “American Town”
7. “That’s On Me”
8. “Page”
9. “Midnight”
10. “Spring”
11. “Punchline”
12. “When Will I Be Alright”
13. “The Day I Was Born”
14. “Head > Heels”
Pre-order Autumn Variations here.
