Ed Sheeran Announces His "Honest" New Album '-' (Subtract)

It will reflect on the singer’s “deepest, darkest thoughts.”

Ed Sheeran Announces His "Honest" New Album '-' (Subtract)

It will reflect on the singer’s “deepest, darkest thoughts.”

UPDATE (March 1, 2023): Ed Sheeran has confirmed a new album titled - (pronounced Subtract) is on the way.

The forthcoming LP will highlight personal experiences Sheeran recently went through, including his wife’s tumor during pregnancy and his best friend’s death.

Sheeran’s new album will drop on May 5. For more, check out his full statement below.

“I had been working on ‘Subtract’ for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art.
Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.
Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety. I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.
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. 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.
This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.”

ORIGINAL STORY (February 28, 2023): Ed Sheeran has taken to social media to tease new music.

The British singer responded to a fan who shared a clip of a subtract sign imprint on sand. “Why is nobody talking about this?! Subtract is coming,” they wrote. Sheeran replied, “Getting excited now?” followed by a yellow heart emoji.

In November 2022, the musician teased a new album on the way. “So “Shivers” has just hit a billion streams on Spotify, which makes it my 11th song as an artist and 15th song as a writer … I’m over the moon about it, thank you everyone who’s been streaming that song,” he said in a now-deleted Instagram video.

He added, “I’m gonna celebrate by shooting a music video for my brand new album, which will be out next year.”

The previous year, he revealed he was planning on releasing an acoustic record titled - (Subtract), possibly referring to the one he recently teased. “I’m going to make 10 symbol records, but the next five won’t be maths,” Sheeran told the Armchair Expert podcast at the time.

Check out his recent teaser below.