Ed Sheeran - The A Team

Saluting the summer hit of 2011

McLovin

In mid-June, Sheeran's debut single entered the charts at number 3, an impressive achievement for the 20 year old. 12 weeks later, the track still hasn't left the top ten and currently sits at number 9, close to half a million sales. It is an astonishing run for the single, and bodes well for his debut album '+' released on 12th September.

How do we account for its huge success? Sheeran manages to strike a delicate balance between soulful delivery mixed with raw, honest lyrics. Recounting the story of a prostitute, his gentle acoustic strumming introduces the song's protagonist in an unassuming manner. Sheeran's vocal performance is carefully and precisely judge; he is removed from the situation, but never superior. It could be so easy for this single to go horribly wrong due to an overwrought interpretation. A sort of 'Look at me! This is serious, therefore take my music seriously!' effect. But I get little sense of ego involved in the process. Even the chorus' smart internal rhymn of 'wasting/pastries' is to serve the song's beautiful, bleak imagery rather than emphasis Sheeran's ample lyrical ability.

I have a sense that The A Team has been so successful because it doesn't feel like a sombre observation of a homeless young girl addicted to drugs, but a love song about her. While lyrically it is a cousin to the Arctic Monkeys' When the Sun Goes Down, musically its the sibling of Plain White T's Hey There Deliah. This isn't meant as a criticism, despite the (quite surprising) levels of vitriol people have against that song. Rather, it hides its dark undertones beneath a captivating and memorable melody. A bittersweet peaen that has outlasted every other number one this summer despite never reaching the top itself, The A Team will live long in the memory and is an extraordinary start to Sheeran's career.