MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ED SHEERAN - +

A 21-year old phenom from England, Sheeran has won a packet of awards in his homeland, based around the huge success of his hit The A Team, from his debut album.  It's about somebody abusing A-class drugs, a maudlin little number in the vein of James Morrison and James Blunt, an acoustic weeper.  But he's not all soft and sweet, and much of the disc features his folk updated with hip-hop pinnings, beats and dance hall speed rhyming.  It's hit-and-miss stuff, at least on the quality side of the equation.  While The A Team works wonderfully, and rings with truth and empathy, too many of the tracks feature some downright awful lyrics.

There's the unbelievable sappiness of Wake Me Up, which details the mundane moments in a relationship (playing video games, watching DVD's) like they are heart-stirring memories.  Unfortunately it strips the power from the next song, Small Bump, which seems to be about a baby lost prematurely.  Then there's The City, about moving to London, which opens with the horrible cliche "This city never sleeps/I hear the people walking by and it's late".  You Need Me, I Don't Need You, another Top 10 hit in England, is him bragging in rap mode about how he's a star already, and doesn't need hangers-on, critics, and the celebrity press.  Okay.  Well, let me just quietly rip you a new one about 21-year-olds pretending to be hip-hop tough when they're obviously just the flavour of the  moment.

It's too bad Sheeran doesn't have a fluff filter, and is enamoured with other people's sounds.  There's talent on display, but manipulation too, and while it will be lucrative times for everyone involved, ultimately interest will wain quickly.