Around the time his debut album, +, was released in 2011, the first songs for Sheeran's second album were written, "One" being the album opener,[REF] and another which eventually became a bonus track [REF].
In a behind the scenes tour video, it was revealed that he was in the studio with producers, Rick Rubin and Pharrell Williams,[REF] who were later confirmed in interviews to be contributing towards the album.