March 27 (UPI) — Pop singer Ed Sheeran announced the name of his upcoming album and discussed his new song “Azizam” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Wednesday.
The music artist, 34, will release “Azizam” on April 4 and has yet to announce a release date for his eighth studio album, Play.
“It’s called Play,” Sheeran told Fallon. “When I was like 18, I had an idea for like 10 albums, and it was Plus, Multiply, Divide, Subtract, Equals, and then Play, Pause, Rewind, Fast-Forward, Stop.”
Fallon asked if he would stop creating albums after Stop.
“I kind of want to make an album for the whole of my life where you put, like, different songs on, and then it’s in your will that comes out the day you die, and it’s called Eject,” Sheeran said.
Sheeran, who teased “Azizam” earlier this week, told Fallon the song title means “my dear” in Farsi.
“I was working with this producer, Ilya, who is Persian, and we were creating a lot of music, and he just suggested we do something within the Persian culture, and yeah, it’s great. We’ve actually done a full version in Farsi, as well,” Sheeran said.
He said he created different versions of the song when he was in China, India and Nashville.
“Music is a universal language, even if it is all in a different language. There’s, like, this thread that goes through,” Sheeran said.
He also talked about how going through an old smart device led to the creation of his upcoming single “Old Phone.”
“It was like going into a time machine,” he told Fallon. “Like the first text was my friend that had passed away the year before. The second text was like an argument with an ex-girlfriend. The third text was a family member I hadn’t spoken to in 10 years. Fourth text was another mate that died.”
Play will mark Sheeran’s first album since Autumn Variations, released in September 2023.
