Ed Sheeran

Royal Albert Hall, London                                                         Touring until July 1

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Father John Misty

Chloë And The Next 20th Century                                                        Out Friday

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The Albert Hall is not the only famous London stage to welcome Ed Sheeran lately. He’s also been in the High Court, defending his 2017 hit Shape Of You against allegations of plagiarism. The case has been quite an eye-opener.

We’ve discovered that Shape Of You makes £5 million a year, and Sheeran considers it ‘a failure’ if a song takes more than two hours to write. So, £25 million for two hours’ graft? Do put your son in the studio, Mrs Worthington.

With a stadium tour about to start, Sheeran could have skipped this benefit for Teenage Cancer Trust. Top marks for altruism, then – but not, alas, for artistry.

Rather than bring the band that will be on the tour, he performs alone with his acoustic guitar, laying down basic looped beats. Once this was refreshing; now it feels as if the loops have been with us for about ten years.

A slick video just leaves the music looking amateurish. Only his latest hits, Bad Habits and Shivers, are Sheeran at his effortless best.

Father John Misty (Josh Tillman) is back with his fifth album and it’s an instant classic. He gives the great tradition of bittersweet pop a twist, setting tart contemporary lyrics to the sound of a more innocent age – the 1940s.

The sweeping strings, swinging horns and swooning melodies make you want to head straight for the nearest supper club and say ‘Play Misty for me’. In the magical Kiss Me (I Loved You), Tillman has written his masterpiece.