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Ed Sheeran starts out his new album on dangerous ground.
It opens with Eraser, one of those what did I get myself into?
Credit: Greg Williams
complaints favored by insanely famous pop stars.
I chase the picture perfect life, he sing-raps.
I think they painted it wrong.
Sheeran knows how sick-making stuff like this sounds to anyone whos not a star.
Guess its a stereotypical day for someone like me.
Thats Sheeran in a nutshell: self-aware, self-deprecating and likable to a point.
At the same time, Sheerans new music has added a relative degree of swagger.
Sheerans voice has been recorded to make it sound beefier as well.
None of these alterations will challenge any fan of his two previous, major label albums, however.
Neither will his latest round of slick and obvious melodies.
Sheeran can also equivocate.
Throughout the album, Sheerans vocals limit the impact of his writing.
Its as blandly pumped and pretty as the hot guy he makes fun of in New Man.
The attitude Sheeran expresses in that song makes you want to root for him.
Hes magnanimous even in defeat.
But if the stance makes him sweet, it cant give him much in the way of substance.
