Ed Sheeran’s – (Subtract) is already the UK’s fastest-selling album of 2023 so far.
According to the Official Charts Company, the Atlantic-signed star’s sixth studio album is on course for No.1 with more than 56,000 chart units so far. Physical sales account for the vast majority of that total up to Monday night (May 8), although streaming is now growing as DSPs report daily totals.
All of Sheeran’s previous albums reached the summit.
The previous record for 2023 was held by Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, which amassed 41,925 sales during its first week.
In November 2021, Sheeran’s = album opened with first week sales of 139,107.
Sheeran’s latest album follows the release of lead single Eyes Closed, which peaked at No.1. The LP has been released alongside a four-part Disney+ documentary, The Sum Of It All. It dropped just hours after his victory in the Thinking Out Loud copyright case in New York.
The decade-long Mathematics era comes to an end with this release, which was produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner (Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams).