A giant heart-shaped balloon is floating above the boardwalk in Dubai’s JBR district as part of a global promotion for Ed Sheeran’s new single Azizam.
Leisure spot Bla Bla Dubai is one of 12 global locations highlighting the single, which will be released on Friday, alongside cities such as Berlin, Tokyo and New Delhi. Launched on Saturday, the balloon – marked with the Farsi title Azizam and its Arabic translation Azizi (“my dear”) – will remain on display through Sunday, according to Warner Music Middle East. The move comes ahead of Sheeran's UAE return next month, when he will headline the Off Limits festival at Abu Dhabi's Etihad Park on April 26.
Sheeran shared snippets of the track on March 19 on his social media channels, revealing it as the lead single from his coming eighth album Play, due later this year. Powered by a pacy dance beat, the song features the word Azizam in the chorus alongside the refrain “meet me on the floor tonight". The song is partly inspired by Sheeran’s collaboration with producer Ilya Salmanzadeh – the Swedish–Iranian songwriter known for co-writing hits such as Ariana Grande’s Problem and Ellie Goulding’s Love Me Like You Do.
Discussing the single on Instagram, Sheeran said the track draws on Iranian musical influences, which he found echoes aspects of traditional Irish folk. Sheeran noted how the song captures the buoyant spirit of the coming album.
“I wrote Azizam after Ilya suggested trying out music inspired by his Persian heritage and culture,” he said. “I love learning about music and different cultures the more I travel and connect with people. It was like opening a door to a completely new and exciting world. I loved how a lot of the rhythms, scales, melodies and instruments were different but similar to the Irish trad music I grew up with. It showed me that music connects us all – it really is a universal language. This whole album is about being playful, explorative and celebratory.”
A full version of the song recorded in Farsi has also been completed, Sheeran revealed during his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday. “It’s been really cool, man,” he said. “I feel like the Persian community has really embraced the song and what we’ve been doing with it. And I feel very honoured to be taken by the hand and shown different things.”
This isn’t the first time Sheeran infused global musical influences into his work. In 2017, he collaborated with Ghanaian producer Fuse ODG on the highlife-inspired tracks Bibia Be Ye Ye and Boa Me, the latter featuring Sheeran singing in Twi, a Ghanaian language.
