Debut Of The Year5 Out Of 5 Stars
I have not been this affected by a debut CD since I first heard Tracy Chapman's back in 1988. Like Chapman, Ed Sheeran takes the conventions of folk-music and the singer-songwriter genre and upends them for his own personal style. It's hard to pigeonhole "+" into any singular category, as this man is influenced by everyone from the Everly Brothers to Elton John to Eminem. I type that line without any irony whatsoever; it makes Ed's first full-length major label album both unclassifiable and unforgettable.
Like Chapman, he also has the knack for writing songs that suckerpunch you like "Small Bump" does, or in the way he machine-guns his way through his cult-hit "You Need Me, I Don't Need You." More often than not, he stays to the thoughtful singer-songwriter traditions of "The A Team" and "This," yet it is mashing of styles on the likes of "Lego House" or "U.N.I." (You And I) that makes him so fascinating. "+" is an intriguing and exceptional calling card by an artist to watch. (PS. Ed was the vocalist the closing night of the Olympics performing Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here").
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