= (album)

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=
File:Ed Sheeran - Equals.png
Studio album by Ed Sheeran
Released 29 October 2021 (2021-10-29)
Genre
Length 48:23
Label
Producer
Ed Sheeran chronology
No.6 Collaborations Project
(2019)		 =
(2021)
Singles from = (album)

= (pronounced and subtitled "equals") is the fifth studio album[3][4] by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, released on 29 October 2021 by Asylum and Atlantic Records.[5] The album was supported by the singles "Bad Habits", "Shivers" and "Overpass Graffiti", in addition to "Visiting Hours", released as the sole promotional single. It received mixed reviews from music critics. The album reached number one in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Background

On 18 August 2021, Sheeran said there would be a "big announcement" the following day.[6] On 19 August, he announced the album and its release date of 29 October on his social media accounts.[7] He described the album as his "coming-of-age" record.[8] To him, the album was a "really personal record and one that means a lot to me", citing changes in his life, including marriage, the birth of his daughter and experienced losses.[9] The promotional single "Visiting Hours" was released alongside the announcement.[10]

In an interview with Capital FM on 27 June 2021, Sheeran also stated that he would like to see the songs he made for the film Yesterday appear on a repackaged version of the album before he goes on tour for the record.[11]

Singles

"Bad Habits" was released on 25 June 2021 as the album's lead single.[12] "Bad Habits" reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.[13]

"Shivers" was released on 10 September 2021 as the album's second single.[14] "Shivers" reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.[15]

"Overpass Graffiti" was released alongside the album on 29 October 2021 as the third single.[16][17] Sheeran performed the song for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series on 26 October.[18]

Promotional singles

"Visiting Hours" was released on 19 August 2021 as the sole promotional single.[19]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 59/100[21]
Review scores
Source Rating
Clash 6/10[22]
Evening Standard 3/5 stars[23]
The Guardian 3/5 stars[24]
The Independent 3/5 stars[25]
NME 3/5 stars[26]
Pitchfork 3.6/10[27]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[28]
The Telegraph 4/5 stars[29]
The Times 4/5 stars[1]

= received mixed reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the album has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[21]

Commercial performance

= debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, selling 139,000 units in its first week (outperforming the rest of the week’s Top 30 combined.) It scored the biggest opening week for an album of 2021 in the UK and the biggest since his last studio album, ÷.[30]

The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, becoming Sheeran’s fourth chart-topping album in the United States. It opened with 118,000 album-equivalent units, of which 68,000 were pure sales.[31]

Track listing

= track listing
No. Title Producer(s) Length
1. "Tides"  
  • Sheeran
  • Vance
  • Joe Rubel
  • McDaid
 3:15
2. "Shivers"  
  • Sheeran
  • Fred
  • Steve Mac
 3:27
3. "First Times"  
  • Sheeran
  • Fred
 3:05
4. "Bad Habits"  
  • Sheeran
  • McDaid
  • Fred
  • Parisi[a]
 3:51
5. "Overpass Graffiti"  
  • Sheeran
  • McDaid
  • Fred
 3:56
6. "The Joker and the Queen"  
3:05
7. "Leave Your Life"  
  • Sheeran
  • Elvira Anderfjärd
 3:43
8. "Collide"  
  • Sheeran
  • McDaid
  • Fred
  • Benji Gibson[a]
 3:30
9. "2step"  
  • Bell
  • Watt
 2:33
10. "Stop the Rain"  
  • Sheeran
  • Rubel
  • Fred
 3:23
11. "Love in Slow Motion"  
  • Sheeran
  • McDaid
  • Fred
  • Rubel[a]
 3:10
12. "Visiting Hours"  
  • Sheeran
  • McDaid
  • Parisi[a]
 3:35
13. "Sandman"  
  • Sheeran
  • McDaid
 4:19
14. "Be Right Now"  
  • Sheeran
  • McDaid
  • Fred
  • Parisi[a]
 3:31
Total length:
 48:23
Japanese edition bonus track[32]
No. Title Producer(s) Length
15. "Afterglow"  
  • Sheeran
  • Hodges
  • Parisi
 3:05
Total length:
 51:28
Digital Fan Deluxe limited edition bonus tracks[33]
No. Title Length
15. "Overpass Graffiti" (NPR Tiny Desk version) 4:01
16. "Shivers" (NPR Tiny Desk version) 3:51
17. "Visting Hours" (NPR Tiny Desk version) 3:49

Note

  • ^[a] indicates an additional producer

Personnel

Musicians

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

  • Ed Sheeran – vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (1, 4–6, 8, 10, 11, 14), bass (1, 10, 11), boy soprano, drums (1); guitar (1, 2, 9), pizzicato violin (2), acoustic guitar (4, 5, 11, 12), percussion (4, 11), keyboards (10), ukulele (13)
  • Foy Vance – piano (1, 10), backing vocals, guitar (1)
  • Joe Rubel – drum programming, guitar (1, 10); programming (1, 10, 11); bass, guitar, piano (1); additional programming (2), strings programming (3, 6), keyboards (10, 11), acoustic guitar, percussion (11)
  • Johnny McDaid – piano (1, 11–13), guitar (2), acoustic guitar (4, 11, 14), backing vocals (5, 8, 11, 12, 14), bass (5, 8, 12), electric guitar (5, 8, 12, 14), keyboards (5, 8, 11–13), programming (5, 11–13), percussion (8), drums (11), glockenspiel, marimba (13)
  • Matt Glasbey – programming (1, 10)
  • Fred – bass (2–8, 10, 14), drums (2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 14), guitar (2, 4), keyboards (2, 4–8, 10, 14), programming (2, 4, 5, 14), piano (3, 4, 7, 11), backing vocals (4, 5, 8, 10, 11), acoustic guitar (5), string arrangement (6)
  • Chris Laws – drums, programming (2)
  • Steve Mac – keyboards (2)
  • Parisi – additional strings (3)
  • Ashok Klouda – cello (3, 6)
  • Tim Lowe – cello (3, 6)
  • Victoria Harrild – cello (3, 6)
  • Leon Bosch – double bass (3, 6)
  • Matthew Sheeran – string arrangement (3, 6), programming (6)
  • Eoin Schmidt-Martin – viola (3)
  • Laurie Anderson – viola (3)
  • Rebecca Lowe – viola (3)
  • Gary Pomeroy – viola (3)
  • Meghan Cassidy – viola (3)
  • Ann Bielby – viola (3)
  • Kirsty Mangan – violin (3)
  • Kathy Gowers – violin (3)
  • Thomas Gould – violin (3)
  • Michael Jones – violin (3)
  • Marije Johnston – violin (3)
  • Jan Regulski – violin (3)
  • Anna Blackmur – violin (3)
  • Antonia Kesel – violin (3)
  • Beatrix Lovejoy – violin (3)
  • Warren Zielinksi – violin (3)
  • Samantha Wickramasinghe – violin (3)
  • Ciaran McCabe – violin (3)
  • Matthew Denton – violin (3)
  • Martyn Jackson – violin (3)
  • Iain Archer – slide guitar (4)
  • Hal Ritson – additional vocals, additional programming, bass, keyboards (5); programming (8)
  • Richard Adlam – additional programming, percussion (8)
  • Louise Clare Marshall – additional vocals (5)
  • Sam Roman – guitar, piano (6)
  • Elvira Anderfjärd – backing vocals, bass, drums, keyboards, programming (7)
  • Graham Archer – backing vocals (8)
  • Will Reynolds – backing vocals (8), keyboards (8, 11, 12) acoustic guitar (11), programming (11, 12), electric guitar (12)
  • Benjy – drums (8)
  • Louis Bell – drums, keyboards, programming (9)
  • Andrew Watt – guitar, keyboards, programming (9)
  • Giampaolo Parisi – drums (11), programming (11, 14), sound effects (14)
  • Marco Parisi – keyboards, piano (11, 12); horn (12), strings (14)
  • Aine McDaid – backing vocals (12), flute (13)
  • Jimmy Barnes – backing vocals (12)
  • Jimmy Carr – backing vocals (12)
  • Josh McDaid – backing vocals (12)
  • Kylie Minogue – backing vocals (12)
  • Maev McDaid – backing vocals (12), harp (13)
  • Pauline McDaid – backing vocals (12)
  • Jack Parisi – programming (12)
  • Michael Peter Olsen – cello (13)
  • Owen Pallett – string arrangement, viola, violin (13)

Technical

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

  • Ed Sheeran – executive production
  • Johnny McDaid – executive production, engineering (2, 4–6, 8, 11–14)
  • Fred – executive production, engineering (4–8, 11, 14)
  • Stuart Hawkes – mastering
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
  • Joe Rubel – engineering (1, 2, 10, 11), recording (2), string engineering (3, 6)
  • Matt Glasbey – engineering (1, 3, 6, 10, 11)
  • Robert Sellens – engineering (1, 10, 11)
  • Chris Laws – engineering, recording (2)
  • Dan Pursey – engineering, recording, vocal production (2)
  • Graham Archer – engineering (2, 4–8, 10–14), vocal production (2–6, 8, 10–14)
  • Paul LaMalfa – engineering (9)
  • Aine McDaid – recording (13)
  • Kylie Minogue – vocal engineering, additional vocal recording (12)
  • Steve Mac – vocal production (2)
  • Matt Wolach – mixing assistance
  • Kieran Beardmore – mixing assistance (1–3, 5–14)
  • Charlie Holmes – mixing assistance (1–3, 5–14)
  • Camden Clarke – engineering assistance (1, 10, 11)
  • Marta Di Nozzi – engineering assistance (3, 6)
  • Neil Dawes – engineering assistance (3, 6)
  • Will Reynolds – engineering assistance (4–6, 8, 11–13)
  • Hal Ritson – additional engineering (5)
  • Kevin Shirley – additional vocal engineering (12)

Charts

Chart performance for =
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[34] 1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[35] 1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[36] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[37] 1
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[38] 1
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[39] 1
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[40] 1
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[41] 1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[42] 2
French Albums (SNEP)[43] 1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[44] 1
1
Italian Albums (FIMI)[45] 1
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[46] 9
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[47] 4
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[48] 1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[49] 1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[50] 1
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[51] 3
Scottish Albums (OCC)[52] 1
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[53] 1
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[54] 1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[55] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[56] 1
US Billboard 200[57] 1

Certifications

Certifications for =
Region Certification Sales/shipments
Brazil (ABPD)[58] Gold 20,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[59] Gold 100,000

xunspecified figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Release history and formats for =
Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Various 29 October 2021

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Ed Sheeran – =" (in German). Hung Medien.
  36. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Ed Sheeran – =" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  37. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Ed Sheeran – =" (in French). Hung Medien.
  38. ↑ "Ed Sheeran – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Ed Sheeran.
  39. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 202144 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ed Sheeran – =" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  42. ↑ "Ed Sheeran: =" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Ed Sheeran – =" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2021-11-08" (in Japanese). Oricon.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  52. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Ed Sheeran – =". Hung Medien.
  56. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter = in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
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