The world’s favorite ginger is the man of all records. After a year of hiatus where he had a baby daughter, Ed Sheeran thought it was time for him to give fans what they’ve been craving for so long : a new song. Just in time for Christmas! Review.
Ed Sheeran took a few breaks from music and social media every now and then, but he always managed to come back in atypical ways. We all remember when he tweeted a simple blue square on all his social platforms on December 13th 2016. Exactly one year after he announced he would be off social media for a year hiatus.
This blue square was the first act of the ÷ era, Ed’s third album. The rest is history! Ed Sheeran Divide tour officially became the highest grossing tour of all time, making $775.6 million on 8.9 million tickets to 255 performances over two and a half years. It ended beautifully on August 26th 2019 with four shows in Ipswich, his hometown. It’s crazy when you think about the fact that this man was busking in the streets and sleeping on friends’ sofas about ten years ago!
This time, he wasn’t supposed to come back for another two months, if not more. But he decided to actually “break his break” for the festive season and surprise his fans with his new song Afterglow, out on December 21st.
Speculations around Ed Sheeran new song Afterglow
Yes, we got some Ed Sheeran 2020 at the very last minute! So, what does this Ed Sheeran new song really sound like? If we believe fans, dropping a song four days before Christmas was the best thing the singer could’ve done to save 2020, this chaotic year for the music industry. Perfect timing indeed!
Not even three days happened between the first clues on fans’ instagram posts and the release of the song, but lots of rumors started to spread! Is Ed Sheeran coming back? What if it’s Ed Sheeran next single? Is Ed Sheeran making a new album 2020? In all this social media spiral, fans actually shared their feelings that it might be related to an acoustic album Ed talked about in the past.
This Monday, Ed dispelled any doubts that was hovering over this mysterious song that he wanted to share so much that he paused his year-long hiatus.
Hey guys. Afterglow is a song I wrote last year that I wanted to release for you. It’s not the first single from the next album, just a song I love, and hope you love too. Enjoy ! Have a safe and happy festive break and New Year’s. Back to Dad Land for me now, ciao x
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Ed Sheeran Afterglow Review
Now we’re fixed ! This song is not the next single, it’s just a song he wanted to share with the world before 2020 ends. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a preview of what’s coming next ! Ed Sheeran Afterglow reminds longtime fans of Ed’s debut album +. This first song in over a year has been written with David Hodges and Fred Gibson, aka Fred Again, who won the 2020 Brit award of producer of the year. After Ed’s last two very commercial albums Multiply and Divide, it’s quite surprising to hear him sing something that sounds like a Plus song, with a bit more of modern production and vocoder harmonies.
This song, whose artwork he made himself, is definitely a love song. It sounds like he found inspiration in his love life with Cherry Seaborn, his wife. But also in his newly family life, with his four month old baby daughter Lyra Antartica Seaborn Sheeran. Yes, it’s THAT kind of song ! Do you get all the hype surrounding this mysterious song now?
Ed Sheeran has always been private about his personal life and is a very down to earth type of guy. You can only see his wife in a couple of photos and videos, such as the official music video of Put it All on Me, a featuring he did with Ella Mai for his No.6 Collaborations Project.
Ed Sheeran Afterglow Lyrics
The official performance video of Afterglow shows Ed Sheeran singing outside with a guitar as the sun rises. The lyrics start this way too, with morning golden light and a love that lasts from the early hours of the morning to the last minute of the night.
Stop the clocks, it’s amazing
AFTERGLOW LYRICS
You should see the way the light dances off your head
A million colors of hazel, golden and red
Saturday morning is fading
The sun’s reflected by the coffee in your hand
My eyes are caught in your gaze all over again
You can tell the general vibe of the song is not sadness but a happy, emotional love, that keeps rediscovering itself every day. The kind of relationship that keeps you safe and pushes you out of your comfort zone at the same time, to make room for growth and happy changes.
We were love drunk, waiting on a miracle
AFTERglow lyrics
Trying to find ourselves in the winter snow
So alone in love like the world had disappeared
The miracle here could be his daughter Lyra, or the slowly but surely building of a long term relationship. In all cases, this song fits the season perfectly as we just entered Winter today! Coincidence? We think not.
Oh, I won’t be silent and I won’t let go
AFTERglow lyrics
I will hold on tighter ’til the afterglow
And we’ll burn so bright ’til the darkness softly clears
As the song goes on, you can clearly feel his feelings becoming stronger and stronger. The two partners are ready to put all their effort into this relationship to make it work and even more, make it something unique and precious to welcome a miracle!
The weather outside’s changing
afterglow lyrics
The leaves are buried under six inches of white
The radio is playing, Iron & Wine
This is a new dimension
This is a level where we’re losing track of time
I’m holding nothing against it, except you and I
Clearly, the season is passing but their love remains the same. They lose track of time but not of what they built. This notion of time passing is also very accurate nowadays because loads of people felt like time has passed differently in 2020, for obvious reasons that we do not need to mention.
Ed Sheeran Concert 2021
As the future of live music is very uncertain, it’s highly unlikely Ed Sheeran will take the risk to announce any tour before the pandemic situation is under control. In the meantime though, you can read this Ed Sheeran Concert Review 2018 at the Indigo O2 to picture yourself in an intimate venue listening to your favorite singer!
