Ed Sheeran is releasing a live version of his previously announced album ‘Autumn Variations’ recorded at fans’ houses.
The ‘Shape of You’ hitmaker was secretly recording the project while performing for fans in their living rooms.
Announcing the project on Instagram with a clip of him surprising a fan by playing the piano, he wrote: “So I did some surprise pop up gigs in fans houses, secretly recording a live album of Autumn Variations where each song is recorded in a different fan’s living room, but all of it was a total surprise. (sic)”
Ed is set to release the live edition “soon”, but the standard is out on September 29.
He continued: “We got to @kariconaway’s house at the end of the day, and I instantly knew it was gonna be a fun one. They had cats, friendship bracelets and some fruit drinks to start, but once I’d played the Autumn song I said take me on a tour, and when I went into her room I saw a piano. She asked if I could play and I said ‘not really but I kinda play on wake me up’, so here I am playing Wake Me Up, for all the Plus fans out there.
“The fan living room live Autumn Variations album coming soon, proper album out 29th September. (sic)”
Sharing the inspiration behind the record, Ed recently explained: “Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded.
“When I went through a difficult time at the start of last year, writing songs helped me understand my feelings and come to terms with what was going on, and when I learned about my friend’s different situations, I wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time. There were highs of falling in love and new friendships among lows of heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion.
“My dad and brother told me about a composer called Elgar, who composed ‘Enigma Variations’, where each of the 14 compositions were about a different one of his friends. This is what inspired me to make this album.
“When I recorded ‘-‘ with Aaron Dessner, we clicked immediately. We wrote and recorded non-stop, and this album was born out of that partnership. I feel he has captured the feeling of autumn so wonderfully in his sonics and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.”
The Grammy winner is also set to perform two special shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall in November.
Ed will perform ‘Autumn Variations’ in full on November 18 and 19 and be accompanied by a live band and a string section at the iconic venue.
The shows will be Ed’s last performances in the UK in 2023.
