Ed found his old phone. We found our emotional collapse.
Old Phone doesn’t shout. It doesn’t try to be viral. It’s not even trying to make you cry. It just sits quietly in the corner, hits play on all your worst memories, and waits.
This is Ed Sheeran at his most honest, his most stripped-back, and maybe even his most wounded. If Azizam was the start of a shiny new pop chapter, Old Phone is the song you play when you’re sitting on the floor of your childhood bedroom, phone in one hand, regret in the other.
“I found my old phone today / In a box that I had hidden away”
This isn’t just a song — it’s a confessional
Lyrically, this one goes deep — and it goes fast. The verses are full of brutal little punches that feel like flipping through your old texts at midnight and wondering who you used to be. There’s no metaphor here. He’s telling the story straight.
“Conversations with my dead friends / Messages from all my exes /
I kinda think that this was best left / In the past where it belongs”
It’s giving: quiet grief. Emotional detachment. Maybe a bit of shame. But it never gets melodramatic. That’s the magic. It’s raw and weirdly cosy at the same time.
The sound? Minimal. Beautifully so.
Sonically, Old Phone barely exists — in the best way. It’s mostly Ed’s voice, warm and slightly worn out, over soft guitar and low-key production. Towards the end, you get this gentle falsetto that floats in like a sigh. It’s very John Mayer’s ‘Stop This Train’ meets Phoebe Bridgers’ voicemail inbox, if that makes sense.
There’s even a hint of country, not cowboy hats and beer pong country, but the quiet Americana sadness kind. Like Ed’s accidentally wandered into a Bon Iver session and decided to unpack his childhood trauma.
No more math, no more metaphors. Just Ed, really talking.
This song feels like Ed Sheeran stepping outside his usual algorithm-proof pop zone and saying, “Here’s the real stuff.” There are no stadium choruses, no radio hooks — just real, tired sadness.
“The ones who loved me I just pushed them away /
Couldn’t tell the difference from the leeches”
OUCH.
It’s one of those songs you don’t expect to hit that hard — until it does.
TL;DR: This is the Ed Sheeran we didn’t know we needed
If Subtract cracked open the door to his more reflective side, Old Phone tears it right off the hinges. It’s not just a song. It’s a story. A moment. Maybe even a warning. And it’s one of the most moving things he’s released in years.
So yeah. We found Ed Sheeran’s old phone too. And now we kinda wish we hadn’t.
