Ed Sheeran has released his new single ‘Eyes Closed’ along with the music video for the track.
Originally written a few years ago, ‘Eyes Closed’ started out life as a break-up song. The lyrics took on a whole new meaning after Ed suffered heartbreaking loss, which led him to revisit and reimagine the original version. ‘Eyes Closed; captures the essence of love and loss, which is also reflected in the official video, directed by Mia Barnes.
In the clip Sheeran is on a night out being followed by a blue monster – serving as a metaphor for grief, Sheeran is unable to shake it, wherever he goes, reminding him of the void that’s left in his life.
Speaking of the new song and the video, Sheeran says – “This song is about losing someone, feeling like every time you go out and you expect to just bump into them, and everything just reminds you of them and the things you did together. You sorta have to take yourself out of reality sometimes to numb the pain of loss, but certain things just bring you right back into it.
When I was thinking of concepts for the ‘Eyes Closed’ music video, I wanted to make a video inspired by movies like Harvey, where the main character has an imaginary friend who’s a giant rabbit that no one can see. There’s also a book I read my daughters where sadness is encapsulated by an imaginary creature. Often sadness is something that follows you around, engulfing the rooms you’re in, and you can feel and see it, but no one else around you can. So I decided to create my own big blue monster for the video. He gets bigger and bigger as the video goes on, til he takes up whole rooms, and is all I can see, just like sadness.”
‘Eyes Closed’ is featured on Sheeran’s new album ‘-‘ (‘subtract’), which will be released on 5th May 2023 through Asylum/Atlantic
Announced earlier this week, Sheeran’s all-new, four-part documentary ‘Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All’ will air on Disney+ from 3rd May 2023. Blending never-before-seen personal archive, interviews and performances, the intimate documentary explores how his personal experiences have shaped him to become the artist he is today.
