Ed Sheeran debuts new track ‘Overpass Graffiti’ for NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk (Home) Concert’ series
The singer’s five-song set featured four tracks from the upcoming album 'Equals' as well as a Foy Vance cover.
By Larisha Paul
Ed Sheeran appeared on the latest instalment of NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series to perform a slate of songs from his upcoming studio album ‘Equals’, out Friday, October 29th.
The singer’s five-song set featured the album’s two lead singles, ‘Bad Habits’ and ‘Shivers,’ which set the tone for his shift toward pure pop as he continues down the rabbit hole of ‘Shape of You.’ Sheeran also made room for the previously released ‘Visiting Hours,’ introduced with an anecdote about the song being inspired by losing a friend.
Sheeran also premiered a new song during his set, the acoustic-driven ‘Overpass Graffiti,’ and performed a cover of Foy Vance’s ‘Make It Rain.’ His rendition was initially recorded in 2014 for the crime drama series Sons of Anarchy.
The Tiny Desk (Home) Concert performance is one of the few in-person live promotions for Equals that Sheeran will be able to offer during release week now that he’s had to cancel a number of performances after testing positive for COVID-19 –– potentially including an appearance as the musical guest on the November 6th episode of Saturday Night Live.
“It means that I’m now unable to plow ahead with any in-person commitments for now, so I’ll be doing as many of my planned interviews/performances I can from my house,” he wrote on Instagram. “Apologies to anyone I’ve let down. Be safe everyone.”
Last week saw Sheeran share snippets of each song from his forthcoming album ‘=’ ahead of its release this Friday (October 29).
Shared in a new series of 14 YouTube Shorts, the British artist previewed short clips of each track along with a different video for each.
“I had a really fun day shooting my YouTube Shorts,” Sheeran said about the series. “I’ve always really enjoyed the music video process, so it was fun to explore a new way of doing that by channeling each song’s theme in a unique way, while also giving you a sneak peek of the album!”
Sheeran recently revealed that he and Elton John have collaborated on a Christmas single. Speaking with Dutch radio station NPO Radio 2, he said: “Elton rang me on Christmas Day to say Merry Christmas. Elton rings me almost every single day.”