After the lukewarm reception of Autumn Variations, Ed Sheeran makes a comeback with Play, an album that leans back into the eclectic spirit that made ÷ (2017) his biggest commercial success. While Sheeran has never been fully embraced by critics, his willingness to experiment across genres has often set him apart from peers in the mainstream pop space. Though uneven, ventured into bold directions with Ghanaian highlife rhythms, stadium-ready guitar licks, and even the controversial Irish-inspired “Galway Girl.” Regardless of whether listeners appreciated those diversions, the album’s adventurousness showed that Sheeran wasn’t content to simply coast on safe balladry.
That sense of playfulness was sorely missing from 2023’s Autumn Variations, a somber and grey project that was widely criticized and became his lowest-charting release in more than a decade. Though Sheeran is famously indifferent to critics’ opinions, Play feels like a conscious pivot back to vibrancy. The pre-release singles “Azizam” and “Sapphire” hinted at this shift, drawing from Persian and Punjabi musical traditions. The latter track, a collaboration with celebrated Indian singer Arijit Singh, particularly underscores Sheeran’s openness to global influences a creative instinct that has previously yielded his most compelling material.
Still, Play doesn’t entirely escape Sheeran’s familiar patterns. Its opening track, pointedly titled “Opening,” begins in his trademark style: a delicate, finger-picked acoustic ballad. At first, this feels like a return to autopilot, but the songwriting quickly distinguishes itself. Lyrics such as “I have cried at my brother’s grave / I have shaken hands with my wife’s surgeon” offer raw, deeply personal moments. Midway through, the track shifts, layering in a sparse beat and a more urgent vocal delivery that borders on rap. While Sheeran’s attempts at rapping remain divisive his prep-school cadence has long been a target for mockery the lyrical bite adds credibility. He even references the plagiarism lawsuits that have dogged him in recent years, with the defiant line: “Two of them tried it; I won both cases.”
Ultimately, Play signals that Sheeran is at his best when he resists predictability. The album doesn’t reinvent him entirely, but it restores the curiosity and genre-blending spirit that once helped him connect with an audience beyond the acoustic pop lane. If Autumn Variations was the sound of retreat, Play feels like a reawakening, proof that Sheeran still thrives when he takes risks even if those risks don’t always land perfectly.
