Online editor Stephen Ong reviews Ed Sheeran’s latest album
Ed Sheeran
Call It What You Want: Taylor Swift’s ‘reputation’
My reputation has never been worse for being a Taylor Swift fan than in the last few months. I have been repeatedly interrogated about the media feuds involving Swift, and over her ‘audacity’ to release an album critiquing of her ‘haters’. I think this hounding by my own peers says a lot about an increasing obsession […]
Album Review: Jessie Ware – Glasshouse
The struggle in Jessie Ware’s newest album, Glasshouse, is clear. The album is caught between Ware – a talented, complex and innovative writer and singer; and Island Records, a commercially-obsessed subsidiary of the goliath Universal Records. As a result, the album is left with a very distinct pattern. The album features a few creative masterpieces […]
The 2017 Mercury Prize Result Response
Following last year and the shock of Skepta’s beating Bowie, grabbing grime’s second Mercury and shaking the British music scene, this years award appeared anyone’s for the taking. Kate Tempest’s genre bending Let Them Eat Chaos was packed with sharp bars and social commentary. Indie behemoths and previous winners alt-J and The xx seemed poised […]
Album Review: James Blunt – The Afterlove
From the moment Blunt released the teaser trailer in which he appeared naked in a bathtub, his modesty covered only by his own 12-inch vinyl, you could tell big things were coming (Pun fully intended). Well ladies and gentlemen, big things have indeed come. The master of savaging people on twitter has taken a step […]
Album Review: Ed Sheeran – ÷
Typically, a third album is often categorised as a ‘make it or break it’ sign, yet Ed Sheeran’s long-awaited, Spotify record-breaking, latest album doesn’t need to provide any further evidence to his fame. Speaking to the BBC, Sheeran predicted 2017 as being a high point of his career, with 17 being his lucky number. After […]
Listen Close: Ed Sheeran – ‘Shape of You’
“I’m in love with the shape of you; We push and pull like a magnet do.” Written with the Barbados-babe Rihanna in mind, Ed Sheeran’s recent attempt at a tropical-house club hit sees him swap his busker persona for a raunchy Casanova. The track was released as a double A-side with ‘Castle On A […]
Oh Britannia…: Is British Music Still Cool?
Two decades ago, the end of year album charts for 1997 painted a clear picture of the British music scene at the height of its Britpop era. The top ten alone included Oasis’s third album Be Here Now, after the success of its 1994 and 1995 predecessors, plus magnum opus Urban Hymns from The Verve, […]