It debuted at number one in Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Sheeran and Dessner wrote over thirty songs together during a month-long studio session, which was eventually cut down to the album's fourteen tracks.

On 29 April 2023, Sheeran announced a series of private shows in North America as part of a mini tour for the album.

Petridis acclaimed Sheeran's work with Aaron Dessner, who provides "atmospheric and beautifully done" as well as "understated string arrangements; twinkling, spectral synthesisers; gentle breezes of feedback and reverb-drenched electric guitars".

[15] Robin Murray of Clash judged the "parallels" to Taylor Swift's Folklore, also produced by Dessner, to be "too neat to miss: removing the gloss, exposing the songwriting underneath, and swapping pop for a more 'serious' artform".

listed the album cover as 10th worst of the year, writing: "the platonic ideal of guy-at-the-party-with-an-acoustic-guitar returns with an image of his own face smeared in what we truly can't believe is not butter.

"[21] The Independent's Roisin O'Connor described − as "a departure, of sorts, for the better", on which Dessner brings his "anti-major chord, damper-pedalled piano style", "which in turn harks back to the acoustic-leaning sound of Sheeran's earliest work".

O'Connor felt that "Lyrically, the album does fall short, but then Sheeran has spent over a decade trading in vague yet universal issues" although "he's trying his best to open up".