After a long year spent vacationing and writing new materials for not just himself but for other artists as well, Ed Sheeran has reemerged into the pop charts. Sheeran’s new album, Divide, was released on March 3 and has already broken many records set by sites like Spotify.

Sheeran has filled his new album is filed with the same iconic mixture of rap and acoustic he has made popular with his past albums. Divide consists of 17 songs, two of which he released earlier this year as singles– combining for a sizable album that plays for 59 minutes.

Some songs like “Perfect” carry an acoustic feel that Sheeran is known for. They’re reminiscent of songs like “Thinking Out Loud” and “Tenerife Sea.” Others carry a completely new sound for Sheeran. “Gallaway Girl” and “Nancy Mulligan” are two that represent this theme most clearly. It seems in his year off Sheeran rediscovered Irish music and is now introducing the fiddle and other elements into his songs.

Every song on the album has potential to be released as a single; they’re all that good. If “Shape of You” and “Castle on a Hill” were meant to set the tone fo the album with their release, they certainly did their jobs. While they’re both great songs, the rest of the album doesn’t stand in their shadow; they’re all just ask good or better. This is perhaps the best album of 2017 so far.

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

5 out of 5 stars