Ed Sheeran Announces New Album ‘Play’ For September, Drops Nostalgic Single ‘Old Phone’
Written by on 1 Μαΐου 2025
Ed Sheeran is turning pain into color, memory into melody. His eighth studio album, Play, arrives on September 12, 2025, via Gingerbread Records/Atlantic—and it’s shaping up to be his most adventurous and emotionally honest project yet.
Sheeran calls Play a response to the darkest period of his life, but don’t expect a sorrowful record. Instead, Play is infused with joy, global influences, and childlike creativity. Finished in Goa, India, and shaped by sounds from Persia and beyond, the album reflects Sheeran’s personal rebirth, combining sonic exploration with emotional depth.
Leading the way is Old Phone, a moving second single co-produced with Ilya Salmanzadeh and Blake Slatkin. Inspired by an actual 2015 device Sheeran found and powered back on, the song is a time capsule of heartbreak, grief, and nostalgia. “It makes me emotional to sing,” he says, “but it feels like a song I couldn’t have written until life hit me hard.”
– Advertisement –
Before Old Phone, he dropped Azizam, a dreamy, Persian-tinged ballad that already hinted at the cultural fusion behind Play. The album marks Sheeran’s official transition from his ‘Mathematics’ era, which spanned over a decade, into a new conceptual chapter defined by playfulness and spontaneity.
“I just want everything I do to be fun and playful,” Sheeran shared, teasing fans with unconventional promotions: folk jams in pubs, open-top bus gigs, and even performances in pink cowboy hats. With world tour dates across Europe, India, and the Middle East, the Play era is more than just music—it’s a full-sensory moment.
Whether through soulful lyrics or Instagram flashbacks, Sheeran invites listeners to reconnect with their past—and to dance with it.
Play Tracklist :
Opening
Sapphire
Azizam
Old Phone
Symmetry
Camera
In Other Words
A LIttle More
Slowly
Don’t Look Down
The Vow
For Always
Heaven
– Advertisement –
