Ed Sheeran’s new album Autumn Variations dropped Friday, September 29. This album marks the British pop star’s first independent release on his label, Gingerbread Man Records. More than that, it sees Sheeran changing his release strategy. The new album will have no singles or music videos attached to it.
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In an interview with CBS Mornings, Sheeran explained why he decided to skip promotional singles and videos for his latest album. In part, he wants to let go of expectations and let the album, as a whole, speak for itself.
“Each record before, I’ve done, like all the big going and doing all these radio interviews, and going on the late-night shows, and doing all this stuff,” he explained. “The record, there’s not even a single for it. There’s not a music video. I’m just putting it out.”
It really all comes down to Sheeran wanting to do things his way. “I want to put out an independent record,” he said. “Also, like, I’ve had 12, 13 years of being a pop star and having the pressure of ‘it has to sell this week one, you have to have this hit single, you have to have this.’ And part of me goes, ‘Why?’”
In contrast, releasing the album independently allows him to get away from the pressure. “Everything has to be the biggest and best every time, then better the next time,” he said of working with a major label. “I think that’s part of the independent thing that takes away the pressure. There are no expectations because there’s no company. You have to live with it. You have to be like, ‘I don’t care what people think,’” he added.
Additionally, Sheeran was able to have more control over the content of Autumn Variations than his previous albums. During the interview, the pop star said that he and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, often listen to records when they cook. For example, they usually put on Come Away With Me by Nora Jones or Jack Johnson’s In Between. Recently, he realized that he didn’t have a record that embodied a single mood. That’s what he wanted to do with his latest collection. As a result, he wanted an album that had “one producer, one mood, one feel,” and that’s what he created.
Autumn Variations is available to stream now.
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