Ed Sheeran’s Got the Monopoly

Hot on the heels of his airwave hogging, summer smash ‘A-Team’ , singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran releases new single ‘You need me, I don’t need you.’ The twenty-year-old from Suffolk presents a far cry from the melodic folk pop of the first single, shedding atmospheric ambience for a frenzied, vocal formed beat that lays the tone for the track, an aggressively witty look at his rise to fame and an open letter to the fickle music industry he is now a prominent part of.

Where the song really stands out is Ed’s rather accomplished rapping. Lyrics such as ‘I sing, I write my own tune, I write my own verse, hell/ don’t need another songwriter to make the songs sell,’ ensure that is not a subtle nudge but a profound statement of just what he has gone through to get to where he is.

It’s in this vain that one might liken Ed to Wimbledon’s acclaimed musical raconteur Jamie T, whose work shares much in common with a track that is so stripped back, raw and poetic. Dominating 2011’s sound, Ed has shown great versatility with collaborations with artists such as Example, Wiley, Devlin and Ghetts; it’s almost as if he’s creating a super force of UK music to take on the world and shies away from being pigeon holed to one genre.

Speaking on Ed’s climb to fame, acclaimed music journalist Gareth Thomas says “Ed Sheeran’s had a meteoric rise and is an example of how today’s music can straddle different cultures from folk and indie to hip-hop and rock. His rise is also an example of how intensive gigging and social networking can come together to launch an artist into the mainstream.” Continuing, “His loop station gigs are legendary his lyric reflect the issues of every day life…and he’s only twenty!”

We briefly caught up with Ed whilst on his UK tour to find out how it’s all going.

So how’s the UK tour going?

The latest UK tour has only just started but really we’ve been on the road since May without much of a break. I love playing live and it’s only getting better with the crowds now the album is out.

Have you got any plans to go out to Australia?

Yes, I go to Australia in November for some promo and hope to make a few trips back again over the next year to play shows.

What are your plans for 2012?

More touring and looking forward to taking my music to new countries.

“+” is out now.

By James Stapleton and Hannah Shakir