Music News: Ed Sheeran Releases New Single “Sing”

This afternoon (or earlier tonight, if you’re in the UK), English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran released “Sing,” his hotly anticipated new single. After releasing + in September 2011, Sheeran toured with that album for two and a half years. While Ed Sheeran’s live performances are something everyone should look forward to, I’m happy to report that more new tunes are on the horizon—when Sheeran broke news of the single on his Twitter, he also announced that a new album, titled X or Multiply, would be released in the summer of this year.

“Sing,” which premiered on England’s BBC Radio 1 and YouTube, is about wanting to be alone with someone. It features classic Sheeran; both his acoustic guitar and loop pedal are hard at work. He juxtaposes melodic verses with rapping, the rap arguably being the strongest aspect of the song. New influences make themselves known in the chorus with the lyrics done in falsetto—I don’t hate it, but I’m not totally sold on the higher pitch.

Check out the song here:

The pace is faster than that of Sheeran’s more famous songs like “The A Team” and “Lego House,” which I’m for—personally, my favorite song of his is the fast-paced, rap-heavy “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” from +, so I’m all about quicker beats. I’m curious to hear what other fans think, so if you have an opinion, sound off in the comments!

“Sing” is now available to download on iTunes. X/Multiply will be released worldwide on June 23, 2014!