Some people make afterparty plans, Ed Sheeran makes after life ones. The singer told Rolling Stone that he’s already begun working on his final album. Though his upcoming May 5 release – (Subtract) will square the circle on his cycle of five mathematically themed studio albums, Sheeran said he’s sketched out his next five releases, as well as a posthumous collection that will be constantly updated during his life.
Sheeran, 32, told RS, “I want to slowly make this album that is quote-unquote ‘perfect’ for the rest of my life, adding songs here and there. And just have it in my will that after I die, it comes out.”
The singer also revealed that while working with his pal Taylor Swift’s recent collaborator The National’s Aaron Dessner on Subtract, the duo produced enough material for another album. After picking 14 tracks for the final maths album, Sheeran said he pulled three others that felt “too joyous” after realizing they felt like the start of a different musical journey.
“It was very quickly seen that we were making two different things,” Sheeran said, adding that he and Dessner then wrote an entire second album together that the in-demand producer is mixing right now. At press time no release date, or title, has been announced yet for that collection, with Sheeran explaining, “I have no goals for the record. I just want to put it out.”
Sheeran will, however, pull the curtain back on his journey to stardom, personal life and musical inspiration in the upcoming Disney+ docuseries Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All. The four-part series due out globally on May 3 is described as the story of “how an unlikely child with a stutter rose to fame to become one of the biggest global music superstars and how his chart-topping hits were born.”
The Disney+ original series will feature exclusive content from Sheeran’s personal archive, interviews with his loved ones and intimate performances. “I’ve always been very guarded in my personal and private life; the only documentary I’ve ever made has been one that focused on my songwriting,” Sheeran said in a press release. “Disney approached me to make a four-part documentary, and it felt like the right time to open the door and let people in. I hope people enjoy it.”
Sheeran’s will drop his new single, “Eyes Closed” on Friday (March 24), which RS described as being built “around a pinging pizzicato riff that builds to an octave-jumping chorus as big as anything in Sheeran’s catalog.” The magazine quoted lyrics including, “I’m dancing with my eyes closed/ ’Cause everywhere I look I still see you… I pictured this month a little bit different/ No one is ever ready.”
