Ed Sheeran popped up in 2019 with his guest-heavy release No.6 Collaborations Project, but as far as solo albums, his most recent is 2017’s ÷ (also known as Divide). It’s been a while, but now Sheeran is officially ready to follow that up: Today, Sheeran announced a new album, which is titled, as fans probably suspected based on his established naming convention, = (or Equals). That’s set for release on October 29.
Sheeran says of the album:
“= (Equals) is a really personal record and one that means a lot to me. My life changed greatly over the past few years — I got married, became a father, experienced loss, and I reflect on these topics over the course of the album. I see it as my coming-of-age record, and I can’t wait to share this next chapter with you.”
Alongside the announcement, Sheeran shared both a performance video and studio version of an emotional new single, “Visiting Hours,” which features backing vocals from Kylie Minogue and Jimmy Barnes. The song is actually one Sheeran fans have heard before: He tearfully performed it at the funeral of friend and Australian music industry icon Michael Gudinski back in March. Sheeran said of the track at the time, “In lockdown, I was able to have a guitar for quarantine. I always find the best way to process stuff is to write songs — be it good news, bad news, or whatever, and, yeah — here’s a song I finished last week.”
Listen to “Visiting Hours” above and find the = art and tracklist below.
1. “Tides”
2. “Shivers”
3. “First Times”
4. “Bad Habits”
5. “Overpass Graffiti”
6. “The Joker And The Queen”
7. “Leave Your Life”
8. “Collide”
9. “2step”
10. “Stop The Rain”
11. “Love In Slow Motion”
12. “Visiting Hours”
13. “Sandman”
14. “Be Right Now”
= is out 10/29 via Atlantic Records. Pre-order it here.
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.