Ed Sheeran secretly recorded live version of new album ‘Autumn Variations’ in fans’ homes
Ed Sheeran has revealed that he has recorded a live version of his upcoming album ‘Autumn Variations’ by surprising fans and performing in their houses.
The singer-songwriter announced the live variation of the upcoming album on his social media channels, confirming that each song from the new LP was performed and recorded “in a different fan’s living room”, but all of them came as a “total surprise”.
The footage, shared on his Instagram page, saw him perform one of his older tracks in a fan’s home, sitting by a piano in her room and breaking into a rendition of ‘Wake Me Up’ – taken from his 2011 album ‘+’.
“We got to @kariconaway‘s house at the end of the day, and I instantly knew it was gonna be a fun one,” he wrote in the caption. “They had cats, friendship bracelets and some fruit drinks to start, but once I’d played the Autumn song I said take me on a tour, and when I went into her room I saw a piano.
“She asked if I could play and I said ‘not really but I kinda play on wake me up’,” he added. “So here I am playing ‘Wake Me Up,’ for all the Plus fans out there.” Find the full clip below.
In the Instagram update, the singer also confirmed that “The Fan Living Room live ‘Autumn Variation’s album [is] coming soon”, while the actual LP is set for release next Friday (September 29) via Gingerbread Man. Pre-order the album here.
Sheeran first teased these surprise visits to fans’ homes earlier this month by taking to his TikTok page. “Surprise pop-ups in fans’ houses to record something special, coming soon,” he said at the time. “Ps your cats were cool.”
The new album is produced by Aaron Dessner of The National, and is said to have been inspired by a 19th Century orchestral work from composer Edward Elgar, titled ‘Enigma Variations’.
@edsheeran Surprise pop ups in fans houses to record something special, coming soon. Ps your cats were cool
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“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,” Sheeran said in a statement (via Rolling Stone). “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.”
The forthcoming album will also mark his second release of 2023 – following on from his sixth release ‘-’ (‘Subtract’), which was released in May.
The LP went on to receive a three-star review from NME, and tackled the singer’s battle with “fear, depression and anxiety”. It also marked the end of his so-called “mathematical era”, which covers Sheeran’s entire major label career.
In other Ed Sheeran news, last week the musician surprised two fans in Las Vegas by making an unexpected appearance at their wedding. For the moment, the artist performed a rendition of a track called ‘Magical’, taken from the upcoming album.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
