Ed Sheeran will release new album ‘Play' on 12th September 2025 it has been announced.
The new album is available to pre-order now and to mark the occasion Sheeran has released new single ‘Old Phone'. Take a listen to the track below:
‘Play' is the first batch of new material from Sheeran since he closed the chapter on his ‘Mathematics' series. ‘Play' finds him exploring new musical ground through collaboration with producers and musicians from around the world, as well as diving deeper into the timeless sounds and themes that have made him one of the world’s best-loved pop artists.
Inspired in part by his exposure to Indian and Persian musical cultures – and their surprising connections to the Irish folk tradition he grew up with, through shared scales, rhythms, and melodies – he explored this borderless musical language, giving the album its distinctive, fresh edge.
Sheeran said…”'Play' was an album that was made as a direct response to the darkest period of my life. Coming out of all of that I just wanted to create joy and technicolour, and explore cultures in the countries I was touring. I made this record all over the world, finished it in Goa, India, and had some of the most fun, explorative creative days of my life. It’s a real rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish, it encapsulates everything that I love about music, and the fun in it, but also where I am in life as a human, a partner, a father. Going into this album campaign I said to myself ‘I just want everything I do to be fun and playful’ – so that’s why we are building pubs for folk jams, doing gigs on open top buses and singing in pink cowboy hats on bars. The older I get the more I just want to enjoy things, and savour the moments that are mad and chaotic. You can preorder play now, many many more playful things to come before it’s out x”
‘Old Phone' is the second taster of the album following the release of ‘Azizam'. Powering up an old phone unused since 2015, he unearths messages from a lost friend, an argument with an ex, and distant family, highlighting how time and separation reshape identity. The song is produced by Blake Slatkin & Ilya Salmanzadeh.
