Reviews
‘Lines between genres have never been more blurred than right now, especially in the mainstream. Experimentation with styles and the melding of musical approaches is to be commended, obviously; but to relate authenticity with consistent, similar output is something very wrong indeed, as not everybody singing the same song is coming from the same place. These charting mutations and variations have as much to do with our culture of instant gratification as they do with music growing out-of-date more quickly – and what better person to stand tall at the lectern than 20-year-old Ed Sheeran, whose unlikely combination of acoustic folk and grime has seen him become one of 2011’s biggest domestic successes.
This is a man who’s been couch-surfing for six years while incessantly gigging, putting out new music, plugging, and building a fanbase (and getting said fans to absolutely worship him). He’s worked with grime artists and toured with Nizlopi, getting shout-outs along the way from Elton John and Jamie Foxx. Given the effort he’s put in, it’s certainly hard to begrudge Sheeran his achievements to date. Raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he could always see further than the confines of his home town, and recorded his first EP aged 14 – the same year MySpace was bought for $580m by NewsCorp, for some context. Hard grafters were slightly easier to spot in 2005, and users of social media had to try harder to define themselves: The JCB Song’s run for the Christmas number one felt like a huge-scale rebellion back then.
But it’s a shame that Sheeran’s biography is a better summation of where we’re at right now than this debut album, on which his precocious self-referencing can become infuriating. You Need Me, I Don’t Need You is unbearable, as he sings, "I’ve done around about a thousand shows / But I haven’t got a house plus I live on a couch / So you believe the lyrics when I’m singing them out". The escapist Drunk is sweet, but his auto-biographical approach to writing has a very limited shelf-life because, essentially, the story just isn’t interesting enough to stretch across 12 tracks. There are standout cuts, though: Grade 8 is a flying track made for radio which opens with a bassline seeped in the nostalgia of Wifey by RnB boyband Next. The City’s chorus also soars; again, the song draws on 90s RnB with Sheeran’s driving, natural delivery and some emphatic drum fills comprising winning constituents.
+ will give Sheeran’s rabid fanbase a lot to love, but it’ll also make him an easy target for critics hungry for new directions in pop, as it fails to really gel the man’s loves of folk and rap. But even though originality isn’t quite what it could be throughout this set, the way he observes and picks situations apart is quite something – something to be developed for album two, certainly. If he ditches his bottom-of-a-Tube-escalator ballads (see Kiss Me) and stops trying to show off, Sheeran could well become a thrilling proposition over an entire long-player, rather than just in all-too-brief moments of magic.’
I believe that this review is absolutely false and Natalie Shaw clearly doesn’t understand the meaning behind Ed’s lyrics. Also, who could not give him some credit for doing around a thousand shows? It is proven that Ed played 312 gigs in one year (impressive!); he stated that he read an interview with James Morrison that said that Morrison had done 200 gigs in a year, and Sheeran wanted to beat him on this number, and so he did … By 112 performances! – Doesn’t this show dedication and motivation?! If not, what does?
I think it is easy for someone to sit at home and complain about music that they don’t understand… And don’t even attempt to understand. If Natalie had actually spent more time listening to his songs more, she would maybe realise that his songs are not at all boring and she (without realising) would probably end up humming Ed’s songs in her sleep! All Ed’s songs have a catchy tune, a great hook and who can forget the genius lyrics sang beautifully and naturally over the tune?
If Natalie Shaw listened carefully to the lyrics of Ed’s songs then she would realise that the lyrics are in fact very relatable and explain the new generation in around two minutes. Shaw would be ensured that she has obviously not analysed his lyrics correctly and if she had taken time to explore the new generation then she would notice that his lyrics are not just about himself, but he is speaking for the youths of society.
Ed’s genre of music has become very popular and if you weren’t into this type of music then why would you spend your night reviewing it and publishing hate into the world? Why not just listen to the music that you’re into and review that? … Don’t get me wrong, constructive criticism is great and helps us all; but using words such as ‘unbearable’ is just mean, and there is nothing helpful about it. Also such bad reviews could put someone off buying Eds CD, which is, in my opinion, absolutely great- I listen to it most- if not every day and never get bored of it.
As I am a singer songwriter myself and have covers on the internet, I understand that what you play or sing isn’t every ones cup of tea… However, because the BBC is such a big company, lots of people are going to read their reviews and comments. If Natalie Shaw ever got her claws on my CD and turned possible customers away, I would be upset and infuriated; however, if her job is to write reviews then she must have to exaggerate things so that people will read it so that she can earn a living - its just such a shame that she felt the need to give a bad review to such a good artist.
