Play (Ed Sheeran album)

Play
Studio album by Ed Sheeran
Released	12 September 2025 (2025-09-12)
Genre	Pop
Length	44:38
Language	English Punjabi Persian Hindi
Label	Gingerbread Man Atlantic Warner
Producer	Ed Sheeran Elvira Anderfjärd Louis Bell Jo Caleb Cirkut Kyle Evans Omer Fedi Fred David Hodges Ilya Savan Kotecha Johnny Leslie Steve Mac Johnny McDaid P2J Santan Dave Blake Slatkin Andrew Watt
Ed Sheeran chronology
+−=÷× (Tour Collection) (2024) Play (2025)
Singles from Play
"Azizam" Released: 4 April 2025 "Old Phone" Released: 1 May 2025 "Sapphire" Released: 5 June 2025 "A Little More" Released: 7 August 2025 "Camera" Released: 12 September 2025 "Symmetry" Released: 17 October 2025

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 pentalogy of albums titled after media control symbols, with Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Stop to follow. ^[3] There is a sixth, Eject, which Sheeran stated he would like to be posthumously released on the day he dies. ^[4]

Sheeran co-wrote and produced Play with various producers and musicians, including Ilya, Blake Slatkin, Cirkut, Omer Fedi, Savan Kotecha, Elvira Anderfjärd, Dave and Arijit Singh, as well as his frequent collaborators Johnny McDaid and Fred Again. The album experiments with sounds from Indian and Persian music, while also continuing the electropop sound Sheeran explored in = (2021). Play was supported by six singles: "Azizam", "Old Phone", "Sapphire", "A Little More", "Camera", and "Symmetry". It 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 its production and global influences but criticised the lack of artistic reinvention. Play won Album of the Year at the Los 40 Music Awards. ^[5]

An EP, Play (The Remixes), featuring Indian artists like Arijit Singh, Karan Aujla, Hanumankind and Jonita on remixes of four songs from the album was released on 17 October 2025. ^{[6] [7]} To promote Play, Sheeran is embarking on the Loop Tour from December 2025 to November 2026. A deluxe edition, featuring 14 additional tracks, was released on 28 November 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". ^{[8] [9]} 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. ^{[10] [11]}

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. ^[12] The second single, "Old Phone", was issued on 1 May 2025. ^[13] The third single, "Sapphire", was released on 5 June 2025, reaching number five in the UK and number 74 in the US. ^[14] The fourth single, "A Little More", premiered on 7 August 2025. ^[15] "Camera" was released as the fifth single on 12 September 2025, alongside the album. ^[16] A remix of "Symmetry" featuring Karan Aujla was released as the sixth single on 17 October 2025. ^[17]

Critical reception

Play ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.5/10 [18]
Metacritic	60/100 [19]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[20]
The Arts Desk	[21]
Associated Press	[22]
The Guardian	[23]
The Independent	[24]
The Irish Times	[25]
NME	[26]
Pitchfork	4.3/10 [27]
Rolling Stone	[28]
The Telegraph	[29]

On Metacritic, Play has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on six reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ^[19] The review aggregator site AnyDecentMusic? compiled nine reviews and gave the album a 5.5 out of 10. ^[18]

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". ^[30] The Irish Times 's Ed Power described the album as "enjoyably moreish" and stated that Sheeran sounds as if he is back on form. ^[25] 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". ^[23] 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. ^[23]

The Independent 's Louis Chilton wrote that Play's production is "slick and glossy" and that Sheeran's singing is "reliably rich in emotion". ^[24] 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. ^[24] 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". ^[26] Maya Georgi from the Rolling Stone felt that Sheeran taps into some fun cross-cultural rhythms, but he mostly sticks to his trusty formula. ^[28] She praised the "sultry" dance-floor number "Symmetry", which has a "thumping heart that can get anyone dancing". ^[28]

Commercial performance

Play debuted atop the UK Albums Chart with 67,654 album-equivalent units, becoming Sheeran's ninth album to achieve this. ^[31] In the United States, Sheeran scored his eighth top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200. ^[32] Play debuted at number five with 71,000 equivalent album units earned, of which 51,000 were pure sales. ^[32]

Track listing

Play– Standard edition ^[33]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Opening"	Ed Sheeran Blake Slatkin Omer Fedi Johnny McDaid Henry Walter David Omoregie	Sheeran Slatkin Cirkut Fedi McDaid	4:00
2.	"Sapphire"	Sheeran Ilya Salmanzadeh McDaid Savan Kotecha Mayur Puri Arijit Singh Avinash Chouhan	Sheeran Ilya [p] McDaid Kotecha Graham Archer [v]	2:59
3.	"Azizam"	Sheeran Salmanzadeh McDaid Kotecha	Sheeran Ilya [p] McDaid Kotecha Archer [v]	2:42
4.	"Old Phone"	Sheeran	Sheeran Ilya Slatkin	3:41
5.	"Symmetry"	Sheeran McDaid Kotecha Salmanzadeh	Sheeran Ilya [p] McDaid Kotecha Archer [v]	2:48
6.	"Camera"	Sheeran Andrew Watt Louis Bell David Hodges	Sheeran Ilya [p] Watt [p] Bell [p] Archer [v]	3:35
7.	"In Other Words"	Sheeran Slatkin Walter McDaid	Sheeran Slatkin Cirkut	3:42
8.	"A Little More"	Sheeran Slatkin Walter McDaid Omoregie	Sheeran Slatkin Cirkut	3:12
9.	"Slowly"	Sheeran Slatkin Fedi	Sheeran Slatkin Fedi Archer [v]	3:21
10.	"Don't Look Down"	Sheeran Fred Gibson Elvira Anderfjärd Salmanzadeh	Sheeran Ilya [p] Fred Anderfjärd Archer [v]	3:37
11.	"The Vow"	Sheeran Slatkin McDaid Fedi	Sheeran Slatkin Fedi	3:32
12.	"For Always"	Sheeran Amy Allen Slatkin	Sheeran Slatkin	3:27
13.	"Heaven"	Sheeran McDaid Kotecha Salmanzadeh	Sheeran Ilya [p] McDaid Kotecha Archer [v]	4:02
Total length:				44:38

Play– Deluxe extended track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Problems"	Sheeran Anderfjärd	Sheeran Anderfjärd	2:54
15.	"War Game"	Sheeran Anderfjärd	Sheeran Anderfjärd	3:12
16.	"Regrets"	Sheeran Salmanzadeh McDaid Kotecha Jo Caleb Omoregie	Sheeran McDaid Kotecha Ilya [p] Archer [v]	3:48
17.	"Freedom"	Sheeran McDaid Steve Mac	Sheeran Mac	3:57
18.	"Skeletons"	Sheeran Allen Slatkin Richard Isong	Sheeran Slatkin P2J	2:41
19.	"Technicolour"	Sheeran Caleb Johnny Leslie Slatkin Omoregie	Sheeran Caleb Leslie	2:19
20.	"Satellite"	Sheeran Omoregie Kyle Evans McDaid	Sheeran Dave Evans	2:39
21.	"Lights Out"	Sheeran Anderfjärd	Sheeran Anderfjärd	3:15
22.	"Fade Out"	Sheeran Caleb Leslie Omoregie	Sheeran Caleb Leslie	2:47
23.	"Crashing"	Sheeran Salmanzadeh McDaid Kotecha	Sheeran Ilya [p] McDaid Archer [v]	4:09
24.	"Rapture"	Sheeran Slatkin Fedi	Sheeran Slatkin Fedi	3:24
25.	"Sapphire" (featuring Arijit Singh)	Sheeran Salmanzadeh McDaid Kotecha Puri Singh Chouhan	Sheeran Ilya [p] McDaid Kotecha Archer [v]	3:00
26.	"Spiral"	Sheeran Hodges Amy Wadge	Hodges	3:14
27.	"I Don't Wanna Go to Bed"	Sheeran Slatkin Fedi	Sheeran Slatkin Fedi	2:25
Total length:				88:29

Note

• ^{^[p]} signifies a primary and vocal producer
• ^{^[v]} signifies a vocal producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. ^[33]

Musicians

• Ed Sheeran – lead vocals (all tracks), guitar (tracks 1, 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 16, 17), acoustic guitar (2, 5, 13, 17, 18), backing vocals (2, 5, 17, 18)
• Johnny McDaid – electric guitar (1, 2, 5, 13, 18), programming (1), backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 16, 18), piano (2, 7), keyboards (2, 16, 18), guitar (3, 16), acoustic guitar (5, 13)
• Blake Slatkin – keyboards (1, 4, 8); additional instrumentation, drum programming (1); programming (4, 8, 9), backing vocals (4, 9); bass, guitar (8, 12); tambourine (9)
• Cirkut – keyboards (1, 8); additional instrumentation, drum programming (1); programming (8)
• Omer Fedi – guitar (1, 9, 11); additional instrumentation, drum programming, keyboards (1); bass (9, 11); drums, programming (9)
• Ilya Salmanzadeh – keyboards, programming (2–6, 10, 13, 16, 18); , bass (2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 18), drums (2, 3, 6, 10, 16, 18), backing vocals (2, 4–6, 10, 13, 16, 18); acoustic guitar, piano (2, 18); electric guitar (5), guitar (6, 10), synthesizer (10)
• Tapas Ray – lute (2–5, 18), santoor (2, 3, 17, 18), mandolin (4)
• Savan Kotecha – backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 16, 18), programming (16)
• Jayesh Kathak – shaker (2, 4, 5, 10, 13, 16, 18), tambourine (2, 4, 5, 13, 16, 18), dholak drums (2, 5, 18), dhol drums (2, 10, 18), riq (3), güiro (4, 16), khartal (4), tabla (5, 10), percussion (5), castanets (10, 13), congas (10); bells, djembe (16)
• Gautam Sharma – dhol drums (2, 4, 5, 10, 14, 15, 18), percussion (2, 4, 5, 10, 18), tabla (2, 18), tambourine (4), drums (10)
• Citizens of the World Choir – backing vocals (2, 18), choral backing vocals (3)
• Max Martin – bass (2, 18), guitar (6)
• Arijit Singh – backing vocals, banjo, sitar, vocals (2, 18)
• Becky Dell – choir conductor (2, 18)
• Ganesh Murali – ghatam (3–5, 13, 14, 17), tambourine (3, 4, 13, 16, 17), drums (10), percussion (14)
• Elvira Anderfjärd – backing vocals (3, 4, 14, 15), cello (6), programming (10, 14, 15), synthesizer (10); bass, drums (14, 15); keyboards (14)
• Andy – backing vocals (3)
• Arash – backing vocals (3)
• Eyelar Mirzazadeh – backing vocals (3)
• Luka Kloser – backing vocals (3)
• Lemar Carter – drums (4, 8, 11)
• Dylan Day – guitar (4, 9, 12)
• Davide Rossi – cello, viola, violin, strings arrangement (4)
• Beoga – banjo, piano, strings (4)
• Pino Palladino – bass (4)
• Rohan Sonwani – bansuri (5, 10, 13, 15)
• Andrew Watt – drums, guitar (6)
• Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums, percussion (6)
• Louis Bell – keyboards, programming (6)
• David Hodges – piano (6)
• Matthew Sheeran – strings arrangement (7)
• Budapest Scoring Orchestra – strings (7)
• Dave – backing vocals (8)
• Jesse McGinty – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, trombone, brass arrangement, woodwind arrangement (8)
• Michael Cordone – trumpet, trumpet arrangement (8)
• Larry Goldings – Wurlitzer (9)
• Fred – backing vocals, bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, programming, synthesizer (10)
• Paul Cornish – Wurlitzer (11, 12); organ, piano (11)
• Nick Ellman – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, horn arrangement (11)
• Raymond James Mason – flugelhorn, horn arrangement (11)
• John Michael Bradford – trumpet, horn arrangement (11)
• Lucy Healey – additional vocals (11)
• Our Dementia Choir – additional vocals (11)
• Ashton Miranda – choir arrangement, vocal arrangement (11)
• Larry Gold – strings arrangement, strings conductor (11)
• Vivian Barton-Dozor – cello (11)
• Kathleen Foster – viola (11)
• Steven Heitlinger – viola (11)
• Emma Kummrow – violin (11)
• Gared Crawford – violin (11)
• Joseph Kauffman – violin (11)
• Natasha Colkett – violin (11)
• Tess Varley – violin (11)
• Yu-Hui Tamae Lee – violin (11)
• Amy Allen – backing vocals (12)
• Shilpa Rao – backing vocals (13)
• Megha Rawoot – sitar (13)
• Magnus Anderfjärd – percussion (14, 15), cajón (14)
• Max Grahn – guitar, mandolin (14)
• Steve Mac – piano (17)

Technical

• Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (1, 4, 7, 9, 12, 17)
• Serban Ghenea – mixing (2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13–16, 18)
• Stuart Hawkes – mastering (1–10, 12–18)
• Randy Merrill – mastering (11)
• Blake Slatkin – engineering (1, 4, 7–9, 11, 12), vocal engineering (1, 9, 11, 12)
• Cirkut – engineering, vocal engineering (1, 8)
• Graham Archer – engineering (2–6, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18), vocal engineering (9, 11)
• Ilya Salmanzadeh – engineering (2–6, 10, 13, 18)
• Jeremy Lertola – engineering (4–6, 10, 13), engineering assistance (3, 5)
• Michael Harris – engineering (4, 8, 11)
• Akash Musherejee – engineering (5, 13)
• Bill Malina – engineering (8)
• Paul Lamalfa – engineering (6)
• Louis Bell – engineering (6)
• Robert Palma – engineering (7), engineering assistance (1, 8)
• Hunter Goddard – engineering (7), vocal engineering (5, 11)
• Robert Sellens – engineering (14)
• Elvira Anderfjärd – engineering (15)
• Chris Laws – engineering (17)
• Dan Pursey – engineering (17)
• Ritvik Shah – vocal engineering (2, 18)
• Sukanto Singha – vocal engineering (2, 18)
• Connor Protheroe – vocal engineering (11)
• Ewan Lunn – vocal engineering (11)
• Matt J. Barnes – vocal engineering (11)
• Arijit Singh – voice editing (2, 18)
• Yuvraj Sarkar – voice editing (2, 18)
• Kieran Beardmore – mixing assistance (1, 4, 7, 9, 12, 17)
• Matt Wolach – mixing assistance (1, 4, 7, 9, 12, 17)
• Bryce Bordone – mixing assistance (2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18)
• Will Reynolds – engineering assistance (2, 3, 5, 10, 13, 17, 18)
• Nick Rose – engineering assistance (2, 3, 16, 18)
• Juan Arguello – engineering assistance (10)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2025) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [34] 1 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [35] 1 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [36] 1 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [37] 2 Canadian Albums (Billboard) [38] 6 Croatian International Albums (HDU) [39] 2 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) [40] 24 Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [41] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [42] 2 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [43] 42 French Albums (SNEP) [44] 3 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [45] 1 German Pop Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [46] 1 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [47] 4 Irish Albums (OCC) [48] 1 Italian Albums (FIMI) [49] 2 Japanese Albums (Oricon) [50] 23 Japanese Combined Albums (Oricon) [51] 31 Japanese Hot Albums ( Billboard Japan ) [52] 18 Lithuanian Albums (AGATA) [53] 74 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [54] 1 Norwegian Albums (IFPI Norge) [55] 7 Polish Albums (ZPAV) [56] 1 Portuguese Albums (AFP) [57] 7 Scottish Albums (OCC) [58] 3 Slovak Albums (ČNS IFPI) [59] 6 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [60] 7 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [61] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [62] 1 UK Albums (OCC) [63] 1 US Billboard 200 [64] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2025) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [65] 44 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [66] 65 French Albums (SNEP) [67] 96 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [68] 34 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [69] 37 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [70] 38 UK Albums (OCC) [71] 47

Certifications

Certifications for Play

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [72]	Gold	100,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Edition(s)	Label	Ref.
Various	12 September 2025	Cassette CD digital download streaming vinyl LP	Standard	Gingerbread Man Atlantic	[73]
		CD vinyl LP	Deluxe
		CD	Japanese		[74]
		Digital download streaming	Extended		[75]
			Amazon Music extended		[76]
			Portman Road		[77]
	28 November 2025	Digital download streaming vinyl LP	Deluxe (27 tracks)		[78]

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