Apple Music/Abramorama
Songwriter, a documentary about Ed Sheeran directed by his cousin Murray Cummings, is coming to Apple Music on August 28, but it hits theaters in New York City Friday. The movie follows Ed as he writes songs for his smash album, Divide, but there’s one song you don’t get to see him write — his biggest hit, “Shape of You.” Why? Because Ed just couldn’t leave well enough alone.
“He had finished the album, the album was done and it was handed in, the record label had it, and so I flew home,” Murray tells ABC Radio. “And then I get a message [from Ed], ‘Hey, I’ve written a new song!’ and I’m like, “Noooo! I wasn’t there!”
So Murray ended up recruiting his brother Billy to fly from Ireland to England, just to get some footage of the next best thing: Ed mixing “Shape of You” in the studio.
But you do see Ed writing many other songs from Divide, and also penning the Justin Bieber smash “Love Yourself.” But since Murray’s been filming Ed for the past 10 years and has so much footage, why did he choose to make a movie focusing on his cousin’s songwriting process?
“I think he had done a lot of other TV projects…a lot of his story was out there,” Murray explains. “I just felt like a lot was covered. And then I thought, ‘What could I do that these camera crews couldn’t do?’ And then I was like, ‘Well, they weren’t there when the songs were written…I was the only guy in the room.'”
Now that the documentary is out, though, will Murray’s next project be serving as the videographer at Ed’s upcoming wedding to his fiancée, Cherry Seaborn?
“No,” laughs Murray. “I’m gonna be drinking at the wedding!”
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