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.