Ed Sheeran’s second studio album X (pronounced “multiply”) was released in June of 2014. As a whole, I prefer his previous album +, but I still liked this album. Though it might be hard to believe, this could be a mostly positive review.

The best quality of “I’m A Mess” is the use of almost only guitar as Sheeran passionately belts out the lyrics. This makes it a favorite track. I do have a problem with one of the lyrics, though. At the end of the chorus, he shouts, “Put your faith in my stomach.” What does that even mean? Sheeran tweeted that he is telling the song’s subject to trust his gut reaction. That was not the best way to communicate that. It’s still a good song.

“Sing” was the first big hit from the album. I really didn’t like it when I first heard it. The falsetto was annoying and Sheeran’s rapping always freaks me out a little. It doesn’t fit his singer-songwriter image. The track was produced and co-written by Pharrell Williams. This isn’t my place to talk about him, but I’ll just say he used to be cool in the days of N.E.R.D. and The Neptunes, but now he’s talking about blurred lines and being happy and he’s fallen from my graces. Anyway, now I really like the track. The falsetto is now kind of funny and I’m getting more used to the rap.

There’s a fair number of love/loss songs on the album. One about break ups is “Don’t.” The strongest/most interesting part of the song is the hook (“ah la la la la”). The song is about Sheeran meeting a girl, who he doesn’t seem to trust, growing close to her, and then she cheats on him. He says, “you didn’t need to take him to bed, that’s all . . . we were staying on the same hotel floor.” You have to feel bad for the guy. For anyone who’s curious, the song is about British pop singer Ellie Goulding.

Goudling isn’t his only ex in the music business. “Nina” is about his relationship with Scottish pop singer Nina Nesbitt. The song is boring musically. The verses are alright but the chorus is weak and awkward. It feels like he couldn’t think of enough words so he added some “ohs” and ended almost every line with her name.

“Tenerife Sea” is my least favorite song. It reminds me of my least favorite song from his last album, “Wake Me Up.” But while the lyrics of that song were too specific (“I know you love Shrek because we’ve watched it 12 times…I’ve always been bad at computer games and your brother always beats me”), these lyrics are too generic. The first few lines are the worst of the song (“You look so wonderful in your dress, I love your hair like that”), and then he goes on about how this girl is so great and they’re in love and so on. I can’t say that the entire song is too vague because the end is specific. He adds the girl’s name, Beth, to the last line of the song. For anyone who has no idea what a Tenerife sea is, it is the sea surrounding one of the Canary Islands, Tenerife.

“Thinking Out Loud” is a pretty hot song on the radio right now. It’s a sweet song about staying in love. He says he’ll love her until they’re 70. Only until they’re 70. The pacing of the song is once again awkward. In the chorus he sounds a bit like the kid in the wheelchair from Malcolm in the Middle. Just imagine him taking a really deep breath every time he pauses when he sings, “I…will…be loving you…until…we’re 70.” Also, something about the speed and instrumentation reminds me of “Kiss Me,” from his previous album.

Certain aspects of this album make me think Sheeran is a pretty cool guy. The instrumentation of the end track “Afire Love” is influenced by  “Remembering Jenny” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, my favorite TV show. Also, the deluxe edition of the album includes one of Sheeran’s best tracks “I See Fire” from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. With this and the fact that his album names are math based, it’s safe to say Sheeran is a nerd.

I’ll give this album 7/10 celebrity ex-girlfriends.

Where to buy the album:

edsheeran.com

itunes