Ed Sheeran has finally revealed his next album, Autumn Variations, which comes out very soon.
In an Instagram post, Sheeran announced that his next album, Autumn Variations, will be released September 29. Taking inspiration from Elgar, the 14 tracks are about 14 of his friends.
“The sun is shining, but Autumn is coming,” Sheeran said, reusing the line he's been teasing Autumn Variations with. “I have an album that I've made called Autumn Variations. This is a record that I was sort of making at the same time as Subtract — it's what me and Aaron [Dessner] went in originally to make.”
In the post's caption, Sheeran said, “Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded.”
He continued, “When I went through a difficult time at the start of last year, writing songs helped me understand my feelings and come to terms with what was going on, and when I learned about my friend’s different situations, I wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time. There were highs of falling in love and new friendships among lows of heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion.”
This is a tonal shift for Sheeran, who spent his first five studio albums covering the mathematics symbols (Plus, Multiple, Divide, Equals, and Subtract). Perhaps now this implies that we will eventually get a Winter, Spring, and Summer album. Autumn Variations will be the first record that Sheeran is releasing on his own record label, Gingerbread Man Records. This is also the second album released by Sheeran this year, the other being Subtract.
It's unclear if Ed Sheeran will tour the album — at least in the immediate future. He's currently winding down his “Mathematics” tour, which began in April of last year. Simultaneously, Sheeran is playing shows in intimate theatre settings, dubbing it the “Subtract” tour where he can play the album in full.
Autumn Variations will be released on September 29.