Hello! I'm so sorry that this is coming late. I've had to work a lot and got caught up in World Cup fever. Also, I needed a few extra days to form a coherent thought in Re: x (If you get that reference, you are my new favorite person). This is the album I've been most looking forward to this summer. Just to clarify, the title is pronounced Multiply. It has been a little over 2 years since Ed Sheeran's first album + (pronounced Plus) was released in America. I talked about my love of that one in my post about Albums That Stood the Test of Time. I would say it currently reigns as my favorite album. Since that albums release, I have had the chance to see Ed Sheeran in concert 4 times and meet him once. One show was a special Christmas time Jingle Jam, one his own tour, and two were while he was on the Red Tour with Taylor Swift. If you ever have the chance to see him, I suggest you take it. It never gets old, and I love seeing how he can captivate a crowd when he is the only one on stage. Just a guitar and a loop pedal. Obviously, I've got a lot of love for Ed, so I'm going to break this album down for you. I picked up the Deluxe Edition which has 4 bonus tracks including "I See Fire" from The Hobbit and "All of the Stars" from TFIOS. If you want to order either of these, I've got some links for the normal edition and the deluxe. The full track list and my thoughts are all below!

Track List 1. One 2. Don't 3. Sing 4. Don't 5. Nina 6. Photograph 7. Bloodsteam 8. Tenerife Sea 9. Runaway 10. The Man 11. Thinking Out Loud 12. Afire Love 13. Take It Back 14. Shirtsleeves 15. Even My Dad Does Sometimes 16. I See Fire 17. All of the Stars

For fans of: Taylor Swift, Jason Mraz

Singles: Sing

Personal Favorites: Tenerife Sea, Thinking Out Loud, Don't, One, All of the Stars

Tracks I Skip: Shirtsleeves, Afire Love (I want to be clear about one thing. I think Afire Love is a beautiful song, and I don't skip it because I don't like it. If you know me or have been following this blog for a while, you will know that I lost my grandfather about 4 months ago. That is the subject matter of this song as Ed also lost his grandfather recently. I cry every time this comes on. The story he tells is just a little too similar to my own for me to stomach it right now).

Anything disappointing: I'm actually going to say no on this one. There isn't any material that I feel like he missed or any parts of himself as an artist that he glossed over. It's all here really.

Overall: For me, this album completely solidified him as a career artist rather than a person who had a good first album. I'm a bit biased, but I firmly believe he has a long career ahead of him. If you like his old stuff, you will like this as well. It is similar enough to + to feel familiar, and it slipped straight into my musical rotation. If you didn't like his first album, I would still give this one a listen. It is different enough that you might find something that is more to your taste, and it is different enough to not be boring for his long-time fans. 

If you are into singer songwriters, then you have to check him out. His lyrics are wonderfully written, and he says things in ways that no one else would think of saying them. He brings it all with this album whether its a ridiculously sweet love song or 3 and half minutes of rapping. He covers all his bases, and he does it well.

What albums are you excited about this summer?

P.S. So this means the post about my hair has been pushed back a week. I've been struggling to get good lighting because it has been raining here a lot lately. Hopefully, that will be up next week!