Ed Sheeran Announces New Album Produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner

August 25, 2023

Ed Sheeran will release a new album called Autumn Variations on Friday, 29th September. It marks the second album in six months released by the British singer-songwriter, following – (Subtract) in May, which was the final release in his ‘Mathematics’ series.

The album was produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, who’s become a go-to for pop artists since the success of Taylor Swift’s folklore and evermore. Dessner also handled the boards for – (Subtract), and the songs for Autumn Variations came out of that initial partnership.

Ed Sheeran: ‘Eyes Closed’

“Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded,” Sheeran said in a statement.

“When I went through a difficult time at the start of last year, writing songs helped me understand my feelings and come to terms with what was going on, and when I learned about my friend’s different situations, I wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time. There were highs of falling in love and new friendships among lows of heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion.”

Sheeran said he was inspired by the English composer Edward Elgar and his Enigma Variations compositions.

“Each of the 14 compositions were about a different one of his friends,” Sheeran continued. “This is what inspired me to make this album. When I recorded Subtract with Aaron Dessner, we clicked immediately. We wrote and recorded non-stop and this album was born out of that partnership. I feel he has captured the feeling of autumn so wonderfully in his sonics and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.”

See the full tracklist below.