MANILA, Philippines — British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is releasing his fifth studio album "-" ("Subtract") on May 5, and will detail the singer's personal journey through "fear, depression and anxiety."
The album will conclude an era of Sheeran naming his albums after mathematical symbols — "+," "x," "÷," and "=" — with collaboration album "No.6 Collaborations Project" being the only outlier since he became a signed artist.
"-" is expected to have 14 tracks with folk-leaning qualities as well as full-band and orchestral arrangements; Aaron Dessner of The National, whom he met through fellow singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, is a co-writer and producer on the album.
On his Instagram account, Sheeran shared a photo of himself writing a diary entry about how "-" came about, as well as a teaser video of him by the sea with the tracklist written on the sand.
Among these song titles are "Boat," "Saltwater," "Eyes Closed," "Life Goes On," "Dusty," "End of Youth," "Colourblind," "Curtains," "Spark," "Borderling," "Vega," "Sycamore," "The Hills of Aberdeen" and "No Strings."
"I had been working on ‘-’ for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be," Sheeran said, noting a series of life-changing events during the beginning of 2022.
Sheeran said writing "-" helped him cope with his wife's health struggles, having to defend his integrity and songwriting career in court, and the death of his best friend Jamal Edwards to whom he dedicated his most recent release "F64."
"Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings," the 32-year-old singer continued. "I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out."