Overview

• Play, Sheeran’s eighth studio album, arrived Sept. 12 with 13 tracks that include the pre-release singles Camera, A Little More, Azizam, Sapphire and Old Phone.
• The record begins a five-album, symbol-themed cycle, with Pause, Rewind, Fast-Forward and Stop announced as the forthcoming titles.
• Drawing on Indian and Persian influences, the album features Arijit Singh on Sapphire, Persian-rooted elements on Azizam, and was completed in Goa, India.
• Critics from outlets including Rolling Stone, The Guardian and NME offered mostly three-star notices, praising highlights like Symmetry and the Fred Again-assisted Don’t Look Down while noting the predominance of familiar ballads.
• Sheeran is pushing the release with a new Camera video starring Phoebe Dynevor, a large-scale NPR Tiny Desk livestream, an iHeartRadio Music Festival slot on Sept. 20, and a Loop Tour starting in December across Europe, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.