= (Equals)
| Ed Sheeran
= (Equals)
= (pronounced and subtitled "equals") is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, released on 29 October 2021 by Asylum and Atlantic Records. The album was supported by the singles "Bad Habits", "Shivers" and "Overpass Graffiti", in addition to "Visiting Hours", released as the sole promotional single. It received mixed reviews from music critics. The album reached number one in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Ed Sheeran is older now; he’s married and newly a father. With all this change comes a new set of trite observations about love, life, and partying amid anonymous and synthetic pop music.
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Rolling Stone
The sensitive superstar has ditched folk-pop for songs with choruses meant to incite cell-phone-lit sing-alongs in stadiums.
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Variety
ltimately, you already know if you’re going to like “=.” If Sheeran’s previous albums evoked a genuine emotional response, you’re in for a treat. If not, this isn’t going to change your mind. The songsmith unashamedly sticks to his winning formula on album four, which makes perfect sense commercially. However, you can’t help but think that a master melody-maker like Sheeran still has something extraordinary up his sleeve. In the meantime, get ready to hear the hits from “=” on the radio for the next 18 months or so.
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The Brown Daily Herald
Ed Sheeran’s new album fails to ‘Equal’ his previous records.
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The Guardian
One of the world’s biggest pop stars only slightly tweaks the formula for an album that many will already have decided they either love or hate.
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NME
It's business as usual for the Suffolk singer-songwriter, who's turned in a fourth album of undeniable hits and savvy, sickly-sweet concoctions.
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Consequence Sound
At the same time, it’s hard not to yearn for the more riveting Ed Sheeran we all know he can be. Perhaps down the road Sheeran will release Slope (y = mx+b) and things will actually get interesting again.
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Evening Standard
The biggest male star in Britain hasn’t lost any of his hit-making touch in lockdown.
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Eagle Nation Online
Another big thing I noticed is that most of the songs sounded similar to either “Shape of You” or “Castle on the Hill,” almost as if he was trying to replicate their success. Most of the tracks seemed like they were copying either song, and it definitely did not work.
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Stereogum
With that in mind, Sheeran is still Sheeran. On =, he is at his most grating at his most sentimental. His lullaby for his daughter, “Sandman,” is cutesy in a way that makes me flinch. The whimpering love song “The Joker And The Queen” is insufferably treacly. No matter how much he experiments, he ends up sounding generic. But for the most part the album is fine — nothing to get too worked up about either way.
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The Upcoming
Be Right Now follows similar beat patterns and instrumental composition to Surrender by Walk the Moon. It’s like 70s/80s rock with a little bit of modern indie. All that mixed with Sheeran’s chosen delivery takes the listener to an endless galaxy – a soundscape that echoes through space and opens up to infinite possibilities. A very endearing closing number, it welcomes Sheeran to a whole new life and side of music he is yet to explore.
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The Cowl
Overall, throughout “=,” Sheeran reflects on becoming a husband and a father and experiencing loss. As made apparent through both his lyrics and the emotion conveyed through his voice, this album is an altogether cohesive project that gives fans a deeper glimpse into Sheeran’s life.
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Riff Magazine
Though = might not offer an entirely new sound for Sheeran, it’s a welcome return for the singer-songwriter whose music has the ability and sensitivity to work across generations and borders.
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Commedia
“=” is a great new pop album for listeners who prefer that genre. However, for long-time fans that admire his early albums, this new album may not be as impressive as expected.
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Renowned for Sound
This collection of soulful songs make you yearn for an Equals album that emits the predictable love songs and includes more of Sheeran’s fun, artistic choices. But, can you imagine an Ed Sheeran album without a love song? No, me neither. His fans would burn the whole place down.
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The Post
The album wasn’t a complete failure, it still has several appreciable hits that will definitely top the charts for several weeks. But realistically, if Ed Sheeran wants to make a better album, he is going to have to switch up the formula that he is very familiar with and revamp his music style considerably.
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The Daily Evergreen
This album bored me so much that I can barely remember anything I listened to. In a way, the poor design of these tracks works in Sheeran’s favor. The songs aren’t annoying but are just devoid of human emotion. It’s perfect music for parents who don’t know how to find music on Spotify, so they’ll just click on Ed Sheeran’s face on the homepage while they fall asleep in traffic heading back from their nine-to-five job.
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Redbrick Music
More than any of his past albums, and despite the combination of sounds on the album, Equals (=) feels cohesive. We follow Ed’s emotions as he progresses to the next stage in life, marrying his girlfriend and becoming a new father all in the space of the past few years. It radiates a feeling of finding his people and his place in the world, following the wilder, younger sounds of Plus (+), Multiply (x) and Divide (÷). Equals (=) serves as a love letter to Ed Sheeran’s family, to his fans, and to himself.
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Black Boy Bulletin
Despite the success of “Bad Habits” and “Shivers” and Equals’s #1 debut, the album still feels remarkably hollow. This is Ed’s worst studio album yet and it couldn’t have come at a more crucial time in his career.
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Stereoboard
His new record—his fourth, and the latest to bear a mathematical symbol as its name—is all too happy to display its all things to all people streak front and centre, skipping between eminently popular sounds while dispensing lyrics that wouldn’t ruffle a feather in a chicken coop. It’s slick, so slick. But that’s hardly news, is it?
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Vinyl Chapters
By the time = comes to a close, you, too, will be feeling a whole bunch of emotions. I’ve never been a fan of how Sheeran strings together his albums (this entire record is basically “slow song, fast song, slow song, fast song”) but there is simply no denying the immense talent on display with his writing, vocals, and production.
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Vox Magazine
I don't know why I decided start my aforementioned Ed Sheeran phase years too late, but I do know that his ability to turn the poems of his life into music that others can relate to got me hooked on one summer drive. Equals achieves this musical diary and more. And because of that, I have a feeling this isn’t just a phase.
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The Independent
Reflecting on major life changes makes for a perfectly good pop album.
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The Irish Times
If you loved what came before, you will love this.
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Gigwise
The 14 track album comes to a close with ‘Be Right Now’, Sheeran’s soft tones wash over the song ensuring a sense of safety when closing what is undoubtedly one of the most hotly anticipated returns to music. Love him or hate him Ed Sheeran is the undefeated champion of perfectly pristine pop that soundtracks romance from all over the world.
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Clash Magazine
A record that moves between intimacy and bombast, ‘=’ abandons uncertainty, with Ed Sheeran’s unabashed gift for melody serving as the glue to hold his ideas together. He’s not an innovator in any true sense – he’s not Bowie or Prince – but those lyrical twists and instantly definable Sheeran-ness touch millions of lives. Unashamedly broad, it can lack detail and punch; yet ‘=’ has something about it that is difficult to shrug off, while being hard to truly relate to.
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Off the Record UK
For fans of Sheeran, = will be the ultimate treat, a delicious summation of all the best of what has come before, but concisely delivered in self-assured and polished melodies.
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The Young Folks
Though it is a good album, the intention behind it is better than the album itself.
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Ratings Game Music
Ed Sheeran stays in his lane in “=,” but man is he good at what he does.
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Sputnik Music
Too many songs from = are bogged down by contemporary pop productions that absolve Sheeran’s style of kinetics and touch, leaving something presently homogenous in its place.
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