Ed Sheeran's Multiply.
I have been hearing a lot about this Ed Sheeran guy lately, so as I was looking for albums to review I stumbled upon this one on the Billboard Hot 200. I didn't know anything about his music at all except that he was apparently a beautiful wordsmith. So, I figured I'd look into this one. I can appreciate acoustic music as I grew up listening to a lot of James Taylor and Simon & Garfunkel. You know, old stuff. Frankly, going into this one I had no idea what to expect, and that may or may not have been a problem.
Opening up the album is "One", A very intimate ballad that Sheeran delivers with a very breathy falsetto. Overall quite pretty, but to be entirely honest, it does not provide the right attraction and hook that an album opener should have. Right off the bat, this album has a hard time grabbing your attention. In contrast though, the next track "I'm a Mess" has the necessary energy for an opener, but not quite enough to make up for past mistakes. It's clips along with a more upbeat tempo and has some very welcome driving bass drum. It's well written song and Sheeran opens up his voice and shows that his expressiveness works in a wide range of tones.
After track two, I'm getting a good vibe from the record and am interested in seeing what follows, but unfortunately this is where Pharrell Williams gets his grubby little hands all mixed up in "Sing". As a wonky turn, the first thing we hear is a R&B/hip-hop drum machine beat that has no place following the previous two acoustic tracks. The whole track has Williams' mark all over it with fabricated "cool" hip-hop sounds thrown in but, it comes off generally upsetting. The emotional, vulnerable lyrics that Sheeran is known for fly out the window for some semblance of pompous club banter and braggadocio. Sheeran's vocal performance is entertaining, but honestly this song has no business being on this record.
The next track, "Don't", is in the same hip-hop/R&B vein but fortunately Pharrell Williams has bowed out. It comes off a lot more soulful and has left out the hip-hop cliches in favor of more acoustic percussion with bass and claps. This song comes across much better as the performance and production are clearly more tailored for Sheeran to genuinely perform. There is still some synth bass during the chorus, but luckily it's understated and used much more effectively than it's predecessor. Moving on into "Nina", we get a somewhat similar song, but with a more somber tone. It's got a decent groove, and has some good sounds from a hinted string background and piano counterpoint in the chorus. I'm not sure how I feel about it though, as the background drone seems unnecessary and the piano counterpoint doesn't quite fit in. Still a passable effort at branching out stylistically.
Approaching the back half of the album, we get to return to the Sheeran we met at the beginning of the record with the acoustic instrumentals and more sincere, vulnerable vocals. "Photograph" opens with Sheeran and his guitar slowly introducing piano in the second verse with drums coming in later to give it more heart and impact. It keeps building but never quit hits a good peak before dropping out to let Sheeran do his thing with intimate vocal closing lines. "Bloodstream" can be easily overlooked on a casual listen, but after taking some time to really pay attention to it, I believe this is where Sheeran belongs. A great instrumental blend of crooning acoustic and pop rhythms, this track finds you feeling the passionate acoustic and vocal performance that you want to hear from Sheeran and still head-bobbing with the gentle thump of a groove.
"Tenerife Sea" is just the 3/4 love song you expect to hear from not just Sheeran but pretty much anyone else who makes similar music. I honestly can't say much about this song as I really found nothing particularly remarkable about it. The vocal harmonies sound nice, hummed over picked guitar, but nothing really interesting is done until the last chorus where another guitar picks through a nice triplet pattern, but there is nothing the make the choruses worthwhile. It's not a bad song, but I found no reason to keep listening to it. "Runaway" is a welcome break from the sappy crooning, and brings back the more funky side of Sheeran with a more bluesy tinge. The groove isn't too heavy and is another solid genre move that still allows for a good vocal performance. It's a nice change of pace, but sadly has the same issue that "Tenerife Sea" had with little to keep you interested.
If you thought Sheeran had done enough expirementing, I regret to inform you that "The Man" is another exploration of hip-hop. An unabashed rap track, where unfortunately Sheeran feels the need to lament over some lost love and his mixed feelings about the matter. The chorus is catchy and easy to sing along with. but there is nothing else really going on musically and just adds to another song to the record. "Thinking Out Loud" takes Sheeran in another new direction, but this one goes much better. It starts off with the expected vocals and guitar, but after a quick verse it merges into a satisfying soulful tune that sounds like it could be a cover from one of the soul classics from the 70's and 80's complete with chilling-at-home, intimate lyrics. This is a Sheeran that I'd enjoy hearing more of. The last track on the album, "Afire Love" does everything it can to leave an impression after everything we've heard so far. It does a pretty decent job of it too. It's the most musically rich track with all the instrumentals working in harmony to make a very heartfelt groundwork for Sheeran to express himself and show off the best qualities of his voice in a powerful, emotional song with the choir singing out the refrain as it reaches a close and making room for the strings and guitar to echo out the last few notes of the album.
Now I have to be honest. After a few casual listens throughout the record, I didn't like it. I was reluctant to listen to it each time I clicked the first track, nothing was cohesive, Sheeran's musical identity was not fully developed, and frankly it sounded like a mix CD where all of the songs just happened to be by the same person, who could be easily mistaken as Jason Mraz. Finally, though, with a final committed listen, things started to clear up and I started to appreciate it more. Not much more, but a bit. Sheeran's voice is gentle and expressive. It's clear why the girls love him. As an acoustic/folk performer he shines, but it's in his more adventurous forays into new territory where his premise falls flat and simply doesn't measure up. I looked up the writing credits to this album and found a lot of collaborations, to which I accredit much of this records mediocrity. Without genuine songwriting from the performer, things can get lost. I think one of those may be a dilution of the human heart and identity, which in this case resulted in a lack of interest in many of the songs here. There are some good songs and Sheeran has some great qualities as a musician, but on Multiply there is not much that works very well and he sounds misdirected musically.
Notable Tacks: I'm a Mess, Don't, Bloodstream, Thinking Out Loud
Drums/Percussion: 5/10 acceptable, Backing up leading man, not noticeable except in cases where it's bad.
Guitar: 7/10 picking executed well, not as prevalent as I'd like,
Bass: 5/10 acceptable, Not noticeable in any case but when it's bad.
Vocals/Lyrics: 7/10 Clear heartfelt vocals, not as expressive as they could be. Inconsistent lyrical themes, but some good lines.
Overall: 6/10 Albums are best as full, cohesive experiences. This is at best a collection of songs with some decent ones thrown in.
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