Even if
- (subtract)
wasn't the predestined title for the last of
Ed Sheeran
's mathematic titles, the name would suit the haunted 2023 album. Absence hangs heavy over the record, perhaps the inevitable result of the singer/songwriter coming through a period where he fought a plagiarism lawsuit over his hit "Thinking Out Loud" (he emerged victorious the day before
was released), supported his wife as she discovered a cancerous tumor during her second pregnancy (it was successfully removed after her daughter's birth), and saw the death of his close friend
Jamal Edwards
. As a method of processing,
Sheeran
hunkered down to collaborate with
Aaron Dessner
of
the National
, thereby mimicking an introspective move
Taylor Swift
made a few years earlier in the 2020s.
Dessner
's work with
is as subtle and sympathetic as his collaborations with
Swift
, yet they don't bear a distinctive fingerprint; he doesn't force the songwriter to follow his lead, he fleshes out their ideas with taste and restraint. As
is naturally a laid-back performer, the pair fit almost a little bit too neatly: where certain hooks and melodic refrains would've been pushed into the spotlight on previous
albums, they're lying in the background here. That tender touch when combined with a preponderance of ballads turns
into a curiously recessive album; its emotions are raw, but its execution is reserved. Listen closely and the record teems with grief and uncertainty -- and sometimes, as on the bonus track "Toughest," which explicitly mentions his wife's cancer, it doesn't take much concentration to note this turbulence -- yet
's musical instincts lead him toward resolution. Deep feelings are calmed within the music itself, either through the gentle sway of acoustic guitar strums or
's keening falsetto, recorded moments that offer reassurance in a way the songs themselves don't. Ultimately, that means
provides a sense of comfort that's possibly accidental; even at his darkest moments,
steers himself toward the light. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine