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It's a little glib to call Ed Sheeran the U.K.'s answer to Jason Mraz, yet there's a grain of truth in that statement. Like Mraz, Sheeran plays around with hip-hop cadences but at his core he's a singer/songwriter, and a sensitive one at that, one who prefers love tunes to songs of protest, something that is quite evident on X, his second collection of original songs. Although he sometimes pours out his heart armed with no more than an acoustic guitar, he's not a troubadour; those hip-hop roots means he'll not only ramble out a rap, but he's also quite comfortable with luxurious, shimmering textures and buoyant melodies. Naturally, these traits surface clearly on "Sing," a collaboration with Pharrell Williams that contains some of the natural ebullience of "Happy," along with the upscale whitebread rap of "The Man," but this good cheer surfaces on songs that are far removed from rhythm. When Sheeran sings slow, he rarely sings sad: he's a hybrid of Chris Martin and David Grey, a boy next door who hasn't lost his shaggy romanticism. His sweetness isn't cloying, not even when the productions are aimed straight down the middle of the road, which they often are on . His boyishness doesn't give these immaculate confections grit so much as a wet, wide-eyed puppy dog heart. Sheeran is so good at this AAA gloss that whenever the mildly manic rapping surfaces -- which X does about every three songs or so -- it's a bit of sand in the Vaseline, preventing X from operating as smoothly as it'd like. Nevertheless, these gangly excursions in rap are evidence of Sheeran's youth and his generation, something that keeps X from being merely a bit of excellently crafted mature pop and gives it some appealing character.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Jake Gosling, Producer, Drums, Horn, Programmer, Recorded by, Strings - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Adam Coltman, AssistantEngineer - Geoff Swan, Engineer
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Chris Leonard, Electric Guitar, Bass, Hand Clap - Jake Gosling, Producer, Drums, Engineer, Percussion, Piano, Programmer, Hand Clap - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Vocals, Writer, Hand Clap, MainArtist - William Hicks, Voice Editor - Geoff Swan, Engineer
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Pharrell Williams, Producer, Writer - Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Andrew Coleman, Arranger, Additional Guitar, Digital Editor, Recorded by - Ramon Rivas, Recording Assistant - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Geoff Swan, Engineer - Rob Sucheki, Recording Assistant
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Rick Rubin, Producer, Instrumentation - Eric Lynn, AdditionalEngineer - Benjamin Levin, Writer - Benny Blanco, Producer, Instrumentation - Lenny Castro, Percussion - Joshua Smith, AdditionalEngineer - Luis Conte, Percussion - Matty Green, Engineer - Jason Lader, Engineer, Keyboards, Bass - Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Vocals, Writer, Instrumentation, MainArtist - Adam MacDougall, Keyboards - William Hicks, Engineer - Chris Sclafani, Engineer - Geoff Swan, Engineer - Sean Oakley, Digital Editor, AdditionalEngineer - Christian Langdon, Digital Editor - Eric Cardieux, Digital Editor
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Chris Leonard, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Hand Clap - Jake Gosling, Producer, Drums, Engineer, Percussion, Piano, Programmer, Synthesizer, Hand Clap - Ed Sheeran, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals, Writer, Hand Clap, MainArtist - Johnny McDaid, Writer - Ed Howard, Hand Clap - Geoff Swan, Engineer - matthew gooderham, AssistantEngineer
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Martin Harrington, Writer - Emile Haynie, Additional Producer, Drum Programmer - Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Davide Rossi, String Arranger - Jeff Bhasker, Producer, Keyboards, Piano, Electric Bass - Ed Sheeran, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Johnny McDaid, Writer - Geoff Swan, Engineer - Tyler Sam Johnson, Engineer, Electric Guitar, Drum Programmer - Thomas Leonard, Writer
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Rick Rubin, Producer - Eric Lynn, Keyboards, Recording Assistant - Lenny Castro, Percussion - Joshua Smith, Recording Assistant - Luis Conte, Percussion - Jason Lader, Keyboards, Recorded by - Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Gary Lightbody, Writer - Chris Dave, Drums - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Johnny McDaid, Writer - Adam MacDougall, Keyboards - Rudimental, Writer - Jonny McDaid, Keyboards - Geoff Swan, Engineer - Sean Oakley, Additional Recorder, Digital Editor, Recording Assistant - Dave Hanych, Production Co-ordinator - Johnnie Burik, ProductionAssistant - Ricardo Kim, ProductionAssistant - Eric Cardieux, Digital Editor - Christian "Leggy" Langdon, Digital Editor
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Rick Rubin, Producer - Eric Lynn, Keyboards, Recording Assistant - Lenny Castro, Percussion - Joshua Smith, Recording Assistant - Luis Conte, Percussion - Jason Lader, Keyboards, Recorded by, Bass - Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Blake Mills, Guitar - Chris Dave, Drums - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Johnny McDaid, Writer - Foy Vance, Writer - Adam MacDougall, Keyboards - Jonny McDaid, Keyboards - Geoff Swan, Engineer - Sean Oakley, Digital Editor, Recording Assistant, AdditionalEngineer - Dave Hanych, Production Co-ordinator - Johnnie Burik, ProductionAssistant - Ricardo Kim, ProductionAssistant - Eric Cardieux, Digital Editor - Christian "Leggy" Langdon, Digital Editor
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Pharrell Williams, Producer, Writer - Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Andrew Coleman, Additional Guitar, Digital Editor, Recorded by - Ramon Rivas, Recording Assistant - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Geoff Swan, Engineer - Rob Sucheki, Recording Assistant
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Chris Leonard, Acoustic Guitar - Jake Gosling, Producer, Drums, Engineer, Electric Piano, Drum Programmer - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - William Hicks, Engineer - Geoff Swan, Engineer
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Chris Leonard, Electric Guitar, Hammond Organ, Bass - Jake Gosling, Producer, Drums, Engineer, Percussion, Drum Programmer - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Lead Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Peter Gosling, Piano - Geoff Swan, Engineer - Amy Wadge, Writer
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Mark "Spike" Stent, Mixer - Davide Rossi, Strings - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Johnny McDaid, Producer, Engineer, Guitar, Hammond Organ, Percussion, Piano, Programmer, Backing Vocals, Writer, Bass - Foy Vance, Backing Vocals, Writer - Geoff Swan, Engineer - Eamon Harkin, Additional Percussion, Additional Vocals - Coco Arquette, Additional Percussion, Additional Vocals - Courtney Cox, Additional Percussion, Additional Vocals - Geoff Leaa, Drums
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Rick Rubin, Producer - Ruadhri Cushnan, Mixer - Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Grant Rawlinson, Assistant Mixer - Ed Sheeran, Guitar, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Johnny McDaid, Writer
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Ruadhri Cushnan, Mixer - Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Grant Rawlinson, Assistant Mixer - Jake Gosling, Producer, Drums, Engineer, Electric Guitar, Percussion, Programmer - Ed Sheeran, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Ruadhri Cushnan, Mixer - Stuart Hawkes, Masterer - Grant Rawlinson, Assistant Mixer - Chris Leonard, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar - Jake Gosling, Producer, Drums, Engineer, Programmer, Bass - Ed Sheeran, Vocals, Writer, MainArtist - Amy Wadge, Piano, Writer
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company
Album review
It's a little glib to call Ed Sheeran the U.K.'s answer to Jason Mraz, yet there's a grain of truth in that statement. Like Mraz, Sheeran plays around with hip-hop cadences but at his core he's a singer/songwriter, and a sensitive one at that, one who prefers love tunes to songs of protest, something that is quite evident on X, his second collection of original songs. Although he sometimes pours out his heart armed with no more than an acoustic guitar, he's not a troubadour; those hip-hop roots means he'll not only ramble out a rap, but he's also quite comfortable with luxurious, shimmering textures and buoyant melodies. Naturally, these traits surface clearly on "Sing," a collaboration with Pharrell Williams that contains some of the natural ebullience of "Happy," along with the upscale whitebread rap of "The Man," but this good cheer surfaces on songs that are far removed from rhythm. When Sheeran sings slow, he rarely sings sad: he's a hybrid of Chris Martin and David Grey, a boy next door who hasn't lost his shaggy romanticism. His sweetness isn't cloying, not even when the productions are aimed straight down the middle of the road, which they often are on . His boyishness doesn't give these immaculate confections grit so much as a wet, wide-eyed puppy dog heart. Sheeran is so good at this AAA gloss that whenever the mildly manic rapping surfaces -- which X does about every three songs or so -- it's a bit of sand in the Vaseline, preventing X from operating as smoothly as it'd like. Nevertheless, these gangly excursions in rap are evidence of Sheeran's youth and his generation, something that keeps X from being merely a bit of excellently crafted mature pop and gives it some appealing character.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 01:05:49
- Main artists: Ed Sheeran
- Label: Atlantic Records UK
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company ℗ 2014 Asylum Records UK, a Warner Music UK Company, except track 16 2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.
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