With 75 million monthly Spotify listeners, Ed Sheeran is a powerhouse in pop music.
Sheeran has garnered critical and commercial success with each of his releases. With his seventh album, “Autumn Variations,” fans and critics alike seem to be turning on him.
Sheeran burnout for me is nothing new — I grew tired after 2017’s “Divide.” Each song on his subsequent records has left a bitter taste in my mouth — something is wrong. It all feels artificial.
Each song on Sheeran’s latest work, “Autumn Variations,” feels bland and benign. Sheeran’s voice doesn’t change at all, it’s the same register, pitch and resonance over and over again.
The album starts with “Magical,” a snoozer of an opener. The boring lyrics — especially the chorus — repeat infinitely creating a loop of endless, soulless love-dovey sentiment with no emotion backing it up.
Along with the vibe of the song taking an immediate halt, the lyricism on “Magical” is tasteless and repetitive. It features the same lyrics and an uncreative chorus.
“Is this how it feels to be in love?/This is magical, this is magical/Is this how it feels to be in love?/This is magical, this is magical,” Sheeran sings.
The tracks continue, with highlights being “Amazing,” “Plastic Bag,” “American Town” and “Head > Heels” — all of which are strong in the sense that an ant is strong. Meaning it can lift and support things more than it seems like it can.
Sheeran’s poor lyricism is not just bad on its own, it is soulless. Ed Sheeran cannot relate to the general populace enough to write a song about love that seems genuine. Most lyrics that he includes in this album are bland, one note and predictable.
“Yeah, I’m tryna feel amazin’/Yeah, but I can’t get out of my way and/Yeah, wish I could feel amazin’/But this is all that I can feel today” Sheeran sings on “Amazing.”
Folk-pop as a genre has long overstayed its welcome. Having origins in the late sixties and early seventies, original folk-pop groups sang about the wonders of life, love and the human experience — so does Sheeran.
But why does it not work here — having worked 50 years ago? The simple answer is the genre has not innovated, and, frankly, it has gone backward. In the late 2000s to early 2010s, there was an incredible shot at a “folk-pop renaissance” with groups like the Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, and of course, Ed Sheeran.
In time, these group’s influences have subsided — except for Sheeran. Ed Sheeran still has the most monthly listeners out of any folk-pop artist today by a large margin.
There was a shot at some innovation by Taylor Swift in 2020 with “Folklore” and “Evermore,” but like most trends in pop music, she moved on from those and on to synthpop-revival.
The problem with the folk-pop revival is that it would not last — most “revivals” don’t. They burn bright and accrue millions of downloads, streams and purchases but burn out just as hard.
I’m not sure where Sheeran can go after this to successfully turn his career around critically. However, if he chooses, he can just ride off of his “Shape of You” and “Perfect” success for the rest of his life.
Rating: 0.5/5 stars
