Ed Sheeran announces new album inspired by a variety of misfortunes

Sheeran says the majority of Subtract was written after “a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art.” First, while Sheeran’s wife Cherry was pregnant, doctors discovered she had a tumor with “no route to treatment until after the birth.” Second, one of Sheeran’s best friends, Jamal—who the artist describes as “like a brother”—died suddenly. Finally, Sheeran describes “standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter” (a nod to a September 2022 copyright trial where the artist was accused of copying Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” to create his hit “Thinking Out Loud.”)

According to Sheeran, he tossed aside the version of Subtract he’d been carefully chipping away at for a decade amid the mental and emotional turmoil, and replaced that draft in just over a week with songs mining his “deepest darkest thoughts.”

“As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that,” Sheeran shares. “It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. 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.”

Subtract is due out May 5.