{"id":6029,"date":"2014-07-04T21:59:04","date_gmt":"2014-07-04T20:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/quench\/?p=6029"},"modified":"2014-07-04T21:59:04","modified_gmt":"2014-07-04T20:59:04","slug":"review-ed-sheeran-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/quench\/music\/review-ed-sheeran-x\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Ed Sheeran &#8211; x"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/quench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/07\/x-2.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6030 aligncenter\" alt=\"x-2\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/quench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/07\/x-2.jpg\" width=\"605\" height=\"605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/quench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/07\/x-2.jpg 672w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/quench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/07\/x-2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/quench\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/07\/x-2-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Following up Ed Sheeran&#8217;s chart topping album &#8216;+,&#8217;\u252c\u00e1 the highly anticipated &#8216;x&#8217; is set to be just as huge. Expressing his emotions of love, hurt, the pressures of stardom and of course, inebriation, we see Sheeran&#8217;s true lyrical talent in his ability to construct depth and meaning whilst keeping each track delightfully poppy.<\/p>\n<p>Opening track &#8216;One,&#8217; whilst a seemingly bleak start to the album, is nevertheless beautiful, showcasing Sheeran&#8217;s vocal talent and introducing the honesty revealed in the following tracks. The simplicity of &#8216;I&#8217;m A Mess&#8217; with it&#8217;s catchy hook is reminiscent of Sheeran&#8217;s earlier material, giving the album an all encompassing feel that&#8217;s sure to please long-standing fans.<\/p>\n<p>True to form, Sheeran doesn&#8217;t hold back on the explicit and brutally honest, most notably demonstrated in &#8216;Don&#8217;t.&#8217; &#8216;I never saw him as a threat until you disappeared with him to have sex,&#8217; he reels, all whilst ensuring the track doesn&#8217;t slip into the downright depressing.<\/p>\n<p>In this day and age, a chart topping album is hardly complete without the input of Pharrell Williams and Timberlake-esque &#8216;Sing&#8217; brings us just that. The number one single sits comfortably amongst the rest of the album, providing a welcome break to the more anguished swoons of &#8216;The Man&#8217; and terribly honest &#8216;Bloodstream.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The album&#8217;s varied pace, where rap infused tracks collide with stripped back heartfelt numbers (&#8216;Photograph&#8217;) and the romantically waltzy (&#8216;Tenerife Sea&#8217;), unwaveringly reflects Sheeran&#8217;s muddled emotions and strains. The conclusion, then, seems apt with &#8216;Thinking Out Loud&#8217; showing the singer-songwriter finally making ends meet with his feelings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following up Ed Sheeran&#8217;s chart topping album &#8216;+,&#8217;\u252c\u00e1 the highly anticipated &#8216;x&#8217; is set to be just as huge. Expressing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":6030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[39,3,1836,1206,1837,19,154,1835],"class_list":["post-6029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-album","tag-cardiff","tag-ed-sheeran","tag-quench-magazine","tag-quench-music","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-x"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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