Ed Sheeran releases new album, "Subtract"

Brut America

We spoke to Ed Sheeran about processing grief after the loss of his best friend, going to therapy, and his new album "Subtract."

Transcript

00:00I've done a song with 50 Cent and Eminem where I rap on it not that long ago and if you were to go

00:06back into my school when I was nine and you know discovered Eminem for the first time and you went

00:13in and you were like which one of these kids is going to be on a song with 50 Cent and Eminem

00:18rapping in 15 years time no one would have picked me. I was like this tall, big glasses, had a

00:24stutter and ginger hair just not not a cool kid at all. All right, all good for you.

00:37Subtract is an album about grief, fear, depression, anxiety but hope. I think that's the best way to

00:43describe it and I think it's a mood. All of my albums before you've you know you have Shape of

00:48You sitting next to Perfect it kind of goes from here to here and this genre to this this this this

00:53whereas Subtract is just one mood you put it on and you're in the world and when it ends you're

00:59out of the world. Is it darker than the previous ones? Yeah I think just from where I'm at in life

01:05it's more adult you know I made Plus when I was I wrote Plus when I was 17, 18. It's a teenage

01:13teenage love album and I made Subtract when I was 31 and dealing with depression and grief and

01:20loss and fear so yeah it's definitely they're definitely more adult themes I wouldn't say that

01:26it's darker it's just what adults live. Does this album reflect in any way a part of your life?

01:33Yeah I think every single album that I've done reflects where I am at that point and I think

01:39I can't not sing songs that are about my life or write songs about my life because then I can't

01:44relate to them. I have to I have to feel something to sing it basically. Could you say that music is

01:48a therapy for you? Yeah I think well I think music is a therapy for for everyone I think writing

01:54music is more of a therapy for me because you get to put down thoughts and words that you wouldn't

02:00necessarily be able to say out loud like if you put a melody to something you can sing you know

02:06the darkest thing on your mind and it will sound beautiful. So do you think that people have to

02:12undergo some things to be able to write about them? Yeah I don't think any great album was made

02:19at a happy point in someone's life I do I do believe that I think that all of the great

02:23records are made from some form of tension in artists lives. Did the conception of this project

02:30help you with your grief? I'm thinking about the loss of one of your best friends of course did it

02:34help in processing how hard can life be sometimes? I don't actually think any of this has helped me

02:40process it because it just brings it all back up again so I'll tell you in a couple of years once

02:45once this is over. It's definitely good to talk about it's helped me open up to friends and to

02:49family and help friends and family who've you know gone through similar things open up to me so

02:53I do think it's a positive thing but I don't know whether it's helped yet. So would you say that

02:592022 was kind of a tough year for you in any way? It's weird looking back at 2022 because yes

03:06elements of it were really difficult but also like our second daughter was born and I went on

03:11tour and made a record and you know there's positives in everything but I think this is

03:15just adult life for everyone no year in someone's life is going to be perfect or bad all year

03:21there'll be you know light and shade in everyone's year this is like the main thing from living all

03:27of this stuff is realizing that everyone is going through exactly the same thing. You open up quite

03:32easily about mental health about the things you went through does it cost you as an artist to show

03:38your vulnerabilities? Yeah I think being open I wasn't really open before you know I would write

03:44songs every now and then and people would kind of guess but I'd never really admitted anything I

03:48think it was mostly going to actual therapy and being having to be open about it and talking about

03:53it and actually feeling better and then talking to mates and opening up to them and feeling better

03:58so I feel like the whole process of being open has made me in some way feel less isolated because

04:07I feel like if you go on the line and go I'm feeling this you can either be like embarrassed

04:13about it or feel that someone's going to relate to you and I've had like you know emails from

04:19all sorts of people that I've known throughout life that have told me stories that I never knew

04:24had happened to them since opening up yeah I think it's good I think it's good to be open and

04:29know what's going on in people's lives because as I said you just don't know you can be having a

04:33conversation with a friend and they might be going through the worst day or worst week of their life

04:39and if you're like how are you and they go yeah I'm fine like you don't know what's underneath it so

04:43it's helped me see that everyone's going through the same thing. Did you ever feel like I'm a pop

04:49star I don't have the right to complain? Yeah I think that there's a certain thing from you know

04:56I'm a super privileged man living in the world when I have things that happen in my life I kind

05:03of keep them to myself it's not something that anyone really wants to hear but you know there

05:08are certain things that we can all relate to being successful and wealthy doesn't mean you can bring

05:12back a friend that's died or you know cure this or no one wants to hear a pop star complain but I

05:18think everyone wants to hear artists be open about how they feel about stuff I think because

05:22otherwise no one would buy music. And about your best friend did it cost you to talk about this

05:28grief? I've shed a lot of tears for Jamal so um now is I'm at a point where you can kind of talk

05:34about it without crying but it's still like I don't know it's just a shame in it. Does Subtract

05:40conclude a certain chapter of your life? Weirdly no weirdly no I feel like I'd made an album that

05:46I thought was Subtract before Subtract so until that comes out I don't feel like the mathematics

05:52series is actually complete although you've got plus multiply divide equal subtract I feel like

05:58I have to put out this one that was going to be Subtract for it to be like okay now now I can move

06:04on. In your Disney documentary at one point you say that someone once told about you that guy does

06:10not become a pop star but that guy has become a pop star what would you say to those who did not

06:16believe in you at first? I've done a song with 50 Cent and Eminem where I rap on it um not that

06:22long ago and if you look at that now it's sort of normal because I've been a pop star for however

06:29long but if you were to go back into my school when I was nine and you know discovered Eminem

06:34for the first time and you went in and you were like which one of these kids is going to be on a

06:40song with 50 Cent and Eminem rapping in 15 years time no one would have picked me I was like this

06:45tall big glasses had a stutter um and ginger hair just not not a cool kid at all so my point is

06:54that if you feel like you are a like misfit cool that misfit kids that isn't cool uh it worked out

07:01for me so it can work out for you too. I was at your concerts yesterday. Did you enjoy it? Of course I did.

07:10My question is how do you manage to make your concerts so intimate so special even when there

07:15are 20 000 people in there? I think that over time the more music that I've released you

07:23earn the right sometimes to ask for people to listen. I've had 13 years of hit singles so you

07:30can sort of front end a show with big songs that people like and then if you put in something like

07:37Boat or Eyes Closed and go this is from the new new record and this really matters to me then

07:46people have kind of they feel connected to you because we've all had the moments at the beginning

07:50where we're all having fun and I yeah I started gigging age 15 I'm 32 now so 17 years of learning

07:57how to work a crowd I guess. Thank you Ed. Thank you.

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