China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Sheeran releases 2 new tracks
Words of hard-earned wisdom from Ed Sheeran: “The club isn’t the best place to find a lover.”
That’s how the young British singer-songwriter begins his new song Shape of You, in which he cleverly goes to a bar instead to flirt with a woman whose “love was handmade for somebody like me”.
Built on a percussive loop crafted by Steve Mac and Sheeran himself, Shape of You marks the singer’s return to music after spending 2016 largely out of view. Ed Sheeran,
Sheeran’s absence last year — following the huge success of his 2014 album, X — cleared a lane for the ascent of Canadian singer ShawnMendes, an avowed Sheeran nut who satisfied many fans’ need for an earnest folk-pop guy strumming his pain with his fingers.
Sheeran’s retreat from performing also allowed him to do some behindthesongwriting for Canadian singer Justin Bieber, whose Love Yourself is nominated for song of the year at next month’s Grammy Awards.
Now that Sheeran has returned, though, he is gunning to get his place back: Shape of You is one of two new songs he released late on Jan 5, along with Castle on the Hill, a more expansive number coproduced by the singer and Benny Blanco in which Sheeran recounts his adolescence in the English countryside over surging, Coldplaypop-rock.
“Fifteen years old, smoking hand-rolled cigarettes / Running from the law through the backfields and getting drunk with my friends,” he sings. “Hadmy first kiss on a Friday night / I don’t reckon I did it right.”
In a statement, Sheeran says, “I really wanted to show two different sides to my music that I’m equally as passionate about” and he is “absolutely buzzing to be back”.
For Xiao Tong, a 25-year-old Beijingbased IT office worker, his hobby is singing. He often goes to karaoke outlets and sings at home as a way to entertain himself and to relax.
A month ago, he started using New Band, an app offering lessons on singing and playing music instruments.
“I do not want to become a professional singer, but I want to improve my singing. My main focus is breath control,” says Xiao. “I have never taken music classes before. But it is very convenient to learn through an app. I just open it and download the material. It is ordering food.
“I also want to learn how different instruments work in a song. That’smy future plan.”
New Band is the brainchild of Chinese pop singer-songwriterHu Yanbin.
Since it was launched in January 2015, the app, which features more than 240 training videos, has been downloaded 2 million times. More than 200,000 people take classes through the app daily, according to Hu.
Hu has also expanded the online music training program to three schools in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen in Guangdong province.
“I want to build a music as easy as training app, which, like the Chinese learning English, is open to everyone, despite differences of age and education. The internet brings people together despite distance,” saysHu.
The 33-year-old Shanghai native has been recognized for his talent ever since he released his debut album, Wen Wu Shuang Quan, in 2002. The album, which included Hu’s songwriting works, such as TheMonk and Telling Me, gained instant success, and won him “best new artist” awards in China that year.
So far, Hu has released nine studio albums, featuring a variety of music styles, from
I really wanted to show two different sides to my music that I’m equally as passionate about.” UK singer Music is my life. It makes me happy. It is a message I hope to carry to more people.”