Ed Sheeran - Under the Tree (from “That Christmas”)

Ed Sheeran is back with the song “Under the Tree” that is featured in the new Netflix animated Christmas movie “That Christmas”. A gorgeous piano ballad about missing a loved one on Christmas, the lyrics specifically are about the narrator missing a former romantic partner during the holiday season. Alone on Christmas, they lament not having the opportunity to have their former partner next to them on what is seen as the happiest time of the year.

Ed Sheeran is no stranger to heartbreak anthems and his specialty is sad love songs to be played during the colder months of the year. One of my favorite songs of his is “Photograph”, the ubiquitous hit from 2015 that dominated the fall and winter seasons. So, it’s no surprise that Sheeran knocks it out of the park on this beautiful piano ballad. Vocally, Sheeran sounds as good as ever and the lyrics are specific while still being universal, a skill that lesser songwriters often fail at.

After releasing six highly successful albums, Ed Sheeran does not have anything to prove. He was the second-most streamed artist on Spotify in the 2010s and can lucratively tour off his massive back catalog of hits until the day he dies. However, it will be interesting to see how he pivots his sound for this current decade. In many ways, his brand of guitar and piano ballads is back in vogue as seen by the recent success of Lewis Capaldi, Dean Lewis, James Arthur, and Benson Boone. One of the biggest hits in 2024 was Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather”, a song that you could easily imagine being released by Sheeran in today’s musical climate. Whatever he releases next, it goes without saying that it will be solid, catchy, and almost certainly a massive hit.