Whatever you think of Ed Sheeran, he’s an artist with a clearly thought-out career plan.
The Suffolk-raised singer-songwriter (who “identifies culturally” as Irish) releases a new album, Play, today. But in a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 he’s revealed that he’s already planning a posthumous release, ‘Eject’, which will be in his will.
Play... Eject. Yes, after his maths-related run of album titles, Sheeran is embarking on a series of albums seemingly themed around the buttons on a cassette recorder.
When asked by Lowe whether ‘Stop’ would be his final album, the singer said: “Well, no. It actually would be ‘Stop’ and then ‘Eject’. ‘Eject’ is the album in the will. It’s actually in my will, and (his wife) Cherry gets to pick the tracks for it. It’s fully in there, if I were to go tomorrow.”
He continued: “My will of wishes is to make a record out of all the songs from the age of 18 (until his death).
"So when I pass away, choose the 10 best. Imagine if Paul McCartney dies and there’s early 16-year-old Beatles recordings, and then right up to the 10 best of his entire career.
"Lots of people won’t like that of me, but there’ll be lots of my fans that would find that super-interesting.”
Hasn’t he described, er, what’s commonly known as a greatest hits album?
“I’ll talk to Cherry throughout my life, (and be) like, ‘I really like this one’,” he continued. “I don’t want to go, and someone just to jumble up stuff and put it out. I want it to be planned.”
He then went on to say that he would “take a long time” to create ‘Stop’. “I think ‘Rewind’ is sort of self-explanatory,” he told Lowe. “’Pause’, I dunno – if I take a break, maybe that’ll be a nice one to put out. ‘Fast Forward’ can be anything fucking kooky and futuristic.”
“‘Stop’, I feel, has to be kind of the way that Jay-Z did The Black Album as if it’s your final (album). I’m not saying that will be my final album.
"I think I’ll probably still make music from there, but I think it has to be made with the same level of care and attention. I love The Black Album and it’s because he’s like, ‘This is my last thing I’m giving to the world’.”
The Black Album, of course, was very far from Jay-Z’s ‘last album’. In fact, he’s put out another eight albums since, either solo or in collaboration with other artists. Like Sinatra, pop stars (and rappers) have a habit of going back on their word when they say they’re going to retire.
It should be pointed out that Sheeran is still only 34. He still has plenty of time to reconsider, change his mind or rip up his meticulously thought-out career plan should he wish to.
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