By Chris Payne. Ed Sheeran is nearly ready to follow up the sleeper success of his debut album “+” with his long-awaited sophomore effort. Up for Best New Artist at the GRAMMYs, Billboard caught up to the 22-year old songwriter for a sneak peak into what’s ahead. “It’s coming out in the next few months,” Sheeran assures. Though unable to drop an exact release date or title for the album, he was able to discuss his impressive set of collaborators.
“I recorded it about three different times with three different people; Then I picked the best songs,” Sheeran explains. “I did some with Rick Rubin. I did some with Jake (Gosling) who I did the first album (2011’s “+”) with. And I did some with Pharrell.” Will the album be a mix of those producers? “Kind of,” Sheeran claims. “There’s a thread that goes through the whole thing so it’s kind of the same.” Sheeran has been writing for his sophomore effort for the past three years, often on the road, as he did while opening for Taylor Swift’s Red tour. In all, demoed 70 songs and recorded 12 of them for the final album.