Like Ed Sheeran’s last two albums “Plus” and “Multiply”, this album was number one on the United States Billboard 200 charts and topped the United Kingdom music charts in three days after release.
By CONNOR MCCAGE – Staff Writer
Ed Sheeran follows up his 2014 album “Multiply” with “Divide”, an album that can’t decide what it wants to be.
Ed Sheeran’s third studio album “Divide” is appropriately named as it bounces between multiple genres instead of working to make the record cohesive. The follow-up to Sheeran’s sophomore album “X”, the tracks in “Divide” suffer from the same problems as it switches between rap, pop and folk without cementing an identity for itself.
The album’s first track, “Eraser”, showcases Sheeran’s severe rapping inability. The track shows some promise with the hard-hitting chorus, but leaves the listener craving a stronger start.
The next several tracks are an improvement and Sheeran delivers some tight folk/pop mashups, like “Castle on the Hill”, “Dive”, “Shape of You” and slow jam, “Perfect”. However, the album stumbles into cliche and trodden territory with “Hearts Don’t Break Around Here” and “Galway Girl”.
Sheeran’s lyrics only sound sincere when singing about his family on the songs “Supermarket Flowers” and “Nancy Mulligan” which help the album builds up to a strong finish. The album closer “Save Myself” is a empowering song that encourages the listener to put themselves before others and, to focus on their betterment.
At many points on the album, Ed Sheeran does not really seem like he cares about the girls he is singing about and often uses lazy lyrics to tell his stories. The album also has two types of songs, a slow piano/folk ballad, or a folk/pop radio song and both can get repetitive after 16 songs.
“Divide” is more promising than the opening track and is worth a listen for some of the heartfelt tracks. However, the majority of the songs are plagued with cliche and generic lyrics. Overall, the album is split between too many genres and until Sheeran picks one or finds a unique way to merge them, he will remain divided.
