Ed Sheeran has been a little busy. In-between a worldwide stadium tour, filming scenes for the film ‘Yesterday’ and getting married to his childhood sweetheart, he has somehow found the time to write and record a new album.
It’s only been two years since the release of his third studio album ‘Divide’ but ‘No.6 Collaborations Project’ hears Sheeran taking a different approach. In the past he has released EP’s and mixtapes of diverse collaborations he’s worked on but with his new household name status he wanted to take it to the next level. With an A-list of star power joining him for this project including Eminem, Justin Bieber, Cardi B, Travis Scott, Khalid, Stormzy, Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars, he takes this album to new heights.
With a heavy hip-hop influence, this record takes a step further into that bold experimentation that he’s previously touched on. ‘Cross Me’, ‘Antisocial’ and the fiery ‘Take Me To London’ is Sheeran at his boldest and he’s unapologetic about it. The Eminem and 50 Cent collaboration ‘Remember The Name’ was highly anticipated but the flat delivery was Severely underwhelming. And that was the same with the forgettable ‘Feels’, ‘Nothing On You’ and ‘1000 Nights’ as well as the cringe worthy singles ‘Beautiful People’ and ‘I Don’t Care’ which has somehow done really well on the charts.
Keeping the experimentation rolling, the latino influenced ‘South Of Border’ is a clear highlight whilst the rock infused ‘BLOW’ will quickly become the most unexpected and impressive song on the collection. And to me this is what the collaborations project is all about.
In the middle of all of the experimentation, Sheeran still holds onto his roots on some songs like ‘Best Part Of Me’ while ‘Put It All On Me’ and ‘Way To Break My Heart’ is a polished pop version of his standards. It ties together the concept for this record and keeps a little bit of pure Ed on there for his loyal fans whilst they wait for album number four.