Play is the eighth studio album by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.[1] It was released on 12 September 2025 through Gingerbread Man Records and Atlantic Records under license to Warner Music.[2] It is the first of Sheeran's planned five albums[3] with titles based on media control symbols, with Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Stop to follow; a sixth, Eject, is planned for a future posthumous release.[4]
On Play, Sheeran collaborated with various producers and musicians, including Ilya, Blake Slatkin, Cirkut, Omer Fedi, Savan Kotecha, Elvira Anderfjärd, Arijit Singh and Johnny McDaid. The album was supported by five singles: "Azizam", "Old Phone", "Sapphire", "A Little More", and "Camera". Play became Sheeran's ninth consecutive chart-topper in the United Kingdom. It also topped the charts in Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium (Flanders), Poland, Australia, and New Zealand. The album received mixed reviews from critics, who appreciated Indian and Persian influences but criticised its lack of reinvention. To promote Play, Sheeran is set to embark on the Loop Tour in December 2025.
Background
After releasing two acoustic albums in 2023, − and Autumn Variations, Sheeran announced in December 2024 that with Play, he is getting back into "big pop".[5][6] In March 2025, he announced the April release of lead single "Azizam" and also confirmed the titles of two other songs from Play: "Old Phone" and "Sapphire".[1] Sheeran performed several songs from Play during the final 2025 leg of his +−=÷× Tour.[7][8]
Singles
The lead single, "Azizam", was released on 4 April 2025 and debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart and number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.[9] The second single, "Old Phone", was issued on 1 May 2025.[10] The third single, "Sapphire", was released on 5 June 2025, reaching number five in the UK and number 74 in the US.[11] The fourth single, "A Little More", premiered on 7 August 2025.[12] "Camera" was released as the fifth single on 12 September 2025, alongside the album.[13]
On Metacritic, Play has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on six reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[15] The review aggregator site AnyDecentMusic? compiled nine reviews and gave the album a 5.5 out of 10.[14]
Billboard's Thomas Smith wrote that Play is a "buoyant record that traverses moods and continents" and that this is "Ed back at his vibrant best".[26]The Irish Times's Ed Power described the album as "enjoyably moreish" and stated that Sheeran sounds as if he's back on form.[21] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian defined Play as "solid" and "dependable". He felt that despite embracing Indian and Persian sounds on selected songs, the album goes back to basics, but with some "surprising undercurrents".[19] He highlighted "Symmetry", which opens with looped Indian percussion and vocals but quickly floats off in a different direction, involving spectral voices and heaving sub-bass, and "Don't Look Down", which "fruitfully" places Sheeran's vocal amid luminous rave synths and, eventually, a pounding house beat.[19]
The Independent's Louis Chilton wrote that Play's production is "slick and glossy" and that Sheeran's singing is "reliably rich in emotion".[20] He named "Azizam", which pulls from the Farsi music tradition, as one of the album's better efforts, and highlighted "Sapphire", an uptempo mashup of Punjabi music and Western pop.[20]NME's Jordan Bassett praised "Don't Look Down", which he called a "psytrance banger", that could have been in the trailer for "one of those ropey Matrix sequels in 2003".[22] Maya Georgi from the Rolling Stone felt that Sheeran taps into some fun cross-cultural rhythms, but he mostly sticks to his trusty formula.[24] She praised the "sultry" dance-floor number "Symmetry", which has a "thumping heart that can get anyone dancing".[24]
Commercial performance
Play debuted atop the UK Albums Chart with 67,654 album-equivalent units, becoming Sheeran's ninth album to achieve this.[27] In the United States, Sheeran scored his eighth top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200.[28]Play debuted at number five with 71,000 equivalent album units earned, of which 51,000 were pure sales.[28]
↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 38.Týden 2025 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
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