Over one year ago on May 5, 2023, Ed Sheeran released Subtract. It was a game-changer for me.
Around the Divide era, I became a Sheeran fan. Years prior, I fell in love with “Photograph” as it was looped on the radio during my teenage summers. But I had lapsed when the No.6 Collaborations Project and Equals albums came along.
Subtract is a return to form for Sheeran as it's filled with somber guitar-based ballads. The album is largely based on tragedies from his life. That lit a fire under him and he released his most personal album to date.
It begins with “Boat,” which sets the stage for what follows. In the song, Sheeran sings about how the “waves (aka the hardships in life) won't break my boat.” More heartbreak follows.
Not a radio-friendly album
What stands out about Sheeran's recent work like Subtract and Autumn Variations is how they are not radio-friendly. Subtract does have “Eyes Closed,” the closest thing the album has to a pop song. Even then, its subject matter is heavy.
“Just dancin' with my eyes closed / And time is movin' so slow / And I don't know what else that I can do,” he sings in the chorus.
Similarly, “Life Goes On” is another song about coming to grips with loss. It's like a shot of tough love. As the title suggests, things happen, but Sheeran knows that “life goes on.”
“To tell me how, how my life goes on with you gone / I suppose I'll sink like a stone / If you leave me now, oh, the storms will roll / Easy come, hard go, then life goes on,” he croons in the chorus.
But the beauty of music is how songs can mean different things to different people. “Eyes Closed” may be about the loss of someone Sheeran was close to, but for me, it reminds me of when I reconnected with my now-fiancée.
“I pictured this year a little bit different when it hit February / I step in the bar, it hit me so hard, oh, how can it be this heavy?” he sings in the pre-chorus.
Last February, I reconnected with my fiancée via Instagram, pulling the classic “slide into the DMs” maneuver. It worked, and we ended up meeting up at a bar in her hometown.
My expectations weren't high going in, per se, but now, over a year later, we're looking at wedding venues. That's not exactly how I pictured that month.
Subtract's love songs
In true Ed Sheeran fashion, he includes some of his best love songs on Subtract. “Colourblind” is something straight out of the Righteous Brothers' or Elvis' playbook. A piano-driven song that acknowledges the mundanity of a relationship. Not every day is full of trips and stuff you see in social media posts.
“Some days we're red, and some days we both think green / But I like the nights when we leave the canvas free,” Sheeran sings.
That's something that is largely left out of most love songs. Instead, they often only acknowledge the highs or the intimate parts of a relationship. Even “Perfect” and “Thinking Out Loud” don't tackle this part of relationships.
The penultimate track of Subtract is “No Strings.” He begins with a promise to his partner: “If we make it through this year, then nothing can break us.”
The promises continue into the chorus. Sheeran promises that even if they “fall apart,” his partner is who he loves. Currently, my fiancée and I are planning our wedding. It should be fun, but we've already met more challenges in the first two months of being engaged than in our entire relationship.
And yet, we both know that these won't be the last issues we have. It's about learning how to work through those that really make or break a relationship. When I feel overwhelmed by the noise, I remember the promises that Sheeran makes and that you inherently do when you begin a relationship with somebody.
A little bit of everything
But for Ed Sheeran's fans who miss his “Sing” rapping days, they have “Curtains.” If they want a pop song, “Dusty” serves that purpose. And if they want a love ballad, they have the aforementioned “Colourblind” and “No Strings.”
There is also a great collaboration that closes out the album, “The Hills of Aberfeldy.” Foy Vance helped Sheeran write the song. It's like an old drinking song, as Sheeran croons about everlasting love. The song also features beautiful fiddle playing throughout. It's the most unique-sounding song Sheeran has written since “Nancy Mulligan.”
Subtract's lasting impact
Throughout the summer that I fell in love with my fiancée, we regularly listened to Subtract. It is Sheeran's best work to date (Autumn Variations gives it a run for its money, though) because of how much he lets the listener in.
As artists get more famous, they usually put more of a guard up. Taylor Swift has been a great example of that. And yet, some artists, like Sheeran, are ready to tear down those walls.
There was no better way of closing out the math symbol era for Sheeran. Subtract is the magnum opus of Ed Sheeran's work, and it's a shame that it didn't win Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammys. It's the best music Sheeran has made in years, and one year later, that remains true.
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