He said: “Each record before I’ve done, like, all the big going in and doing all these radio interviews, and going on the late-night shows, and doing, doing all this stuff. And this record, there’s not even a single for it. There’s not, there’s not a music video. I’m just putting it out”.  

The project is the first in line for Sheeran as an independent release, after the singer founded Gingerbread Man Records a few years ago. The superstar, who has more than 75 million monthly listeners on Spotify, explained that there is less pressure working independently.  

The “Bad Habits” singer said: “I wanna put out an independent record. And also, like, I’ve had 12, 13 years of the, 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?’”

Listen to “Bad Habits”, below.

He continued: “Everything has to be the biggest and best every time, and then better the next time. 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.”  

Autumn Variations is the seventh studio album released by the “Lego House” singer and comes after the smash success of his previous album Subtract, which was released earlier this year. Subtract, which has been certified Gold in the UK for selling over 100,000 copies, produced the hits “Eyes Closed” and “Boat.”

The hitmaker announced Autumn Variations this summer and explained the inspiration behind the record. He said on Instagram: “Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded.” 

He continued, “When I went through a difficult time at the start of last year, writing songs helped me understand my feelings and come to terms with what was going on, and when I learned about my friend’s different situations, I wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time. There were highs of falling in love and new friendships among lows of heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion.” 

Fans of the singer can listen to the record now.  

In a post on the singer’s Instagram page, he shared a video of him performing his song “Wake Me Up” from his 2011 album + in the living room of an overwhelmed and excited fan.

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A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos)

Sheeran said in his post “So I did some surprise pop up gigs in fans houses, secretly recording a live version of Autumn Variations where each song is recorded in a different fans living room, but all of it was a total surprise.” The Instagram teaser also revealed that “The fan living room live Autumn Variations album coming soon, proper album out September 29th go preorder you legends x”.

The pop star’s upcoming seventh album is produced by Aaron Dessner of American band The National, who also worked with Sheeran on his album - (Subtract) which was released in May and marked the end of the singer’s so-called “mathematical era”. In a statement via Rolling Stone, Sheeran spoke on working with Dessner, stating “When I recorded ‘-’ (‘Subtract’) with Aaron Dessner, we clicked immediately. We wrote and recorded non-stop and this album was born out of that partnership. I feel he has captured the feeling of autumn so wonderfully in his sonics and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.”.

It is said that Sheeran’s upcoming Autumn Variations is inspired by a piece of 19th century orchestral work by composer Edward Elgar, titled Enigma Variations.

Sheeran will be promoting his new album by performing Autumn Variations in full at London’s Royal Albert Hall this November. Tickets are available here.

Recording the live version of Autumn Variations is not the only surprise the “Eyes Closed” singer has given fans recently. Last week, the musician surprised two fans in Las Vegas by giving an unplanned performance at their wedding. For their special day, Sheeran performed the song “Magical” from his upcoming LP. The singer uploaded this moment to his Instagram, with the caption “Crashed a wedding, this is Magical x”

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A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos)

You can preorder Autumn Variations here.

Tour dates:

18/11/2023 – Royal Albert Hall – London

19/11 – Royal Albert Hall – London