Official album cover for Ed Sheeran’s “Play: The Remixes”
Ed Sheeran/Spotify
This week saw the release of Ed Sheeran’s Play (The Remixes) EP, a four-track project that reimagines songs from his chart-topping ninth studio album Play.
The project was inspired by Sheeran’s month-long stay in India, where he immersed himself in the country’s music and connected with local artists.
The EP features collaborations with Karan Aujla, Arijit Singh, Jonita Gandhi, Hanumankind, Dhee, and composer Santhosh Narayanan, blending Punjabi, Tamil, and Hindi influences to give his original album a fresh international twist.
Speaking about the project on social media, Sheeran said: “Making and finishing Play in India was such a fun experience. Over the last decade through touring, I’ve met many local artists and explored a variety of music and cultures. I loved this collaboration process so much and wanted to represent as much as I could on this EP.”
Ed Sheeran & Ariijt Singh — “Sapphire”
Ed Sheeran and Arijit Singh in “Sapphire”
Warner Music India
Arijit Singh is a veteran playback singer, composer, music producer and instrumentalist who has become a leading figure in contemporary Bollywood music.
Per a 2023 report in the Economic Times, the singer has sung more than 400 songs in various Indian languages.
Singh’s dominance in streaming is unparalleled. In July of 2025, he overtook Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran as Spotify’s most followed artist ever, with 151 million followers.
Singh began his career when he participated in the reality show ‘Fame Gurukul’ in 2005 and made his Hindi cinema debut in 2011 with the song “Phir Mohabbat” for the film Murder 2.
He received wider recognition with the release of “Tum Hi Ho” from the film Aashiqui 2 in 2013. Per the Indian Express, his song “Kesariya” from the film Brahmastra became the first Indian song to cross 300 million and then 500 million streams on Spotify.
On Play (The Remixes), Singh features on “Sapphire,” which had already been released in June 2025 and has crossed 225 million streams on Spotify. The reworked version sees Sheeran and Singh trade verses in English and Punjabi, with Singh adding sitar elements and soulful vocals.
Sheeran traveled to Singh’s hometown of Jiaganj Azimganj in West Bengal to create the collaboration, previously calling it “one of my favourite memories in my musical career.”
Ed Sheeran & Karan Aujla — “Symmetry”
Ed Sheeran and Karan Aujla in the music video thumbnail for “Symmetry”
Ed Sheeran/YouTube
28-year-old Jaskaran Singh Aujla known professionally as Karan Aujla, is an Indian singer, rapper and songwriter based in Canada.
Primarly associated with Punjabi music, Aujla’s debut album Bacthafucup peaked at number 20 on Billboard Canadian Albums chart, earning him the title of the Largest Digital Artist 2021 on Spotify.
Aujla currently has 19.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and his most popular song on YouTube has 524 million views.
Aujla was born in Ghurala, Ludhiana district of Punjab, and moved to Canada several years after both his parents passed. Aujla started as a songwriter for singer Jassi Gill’s “Range” when in ninth grade. He also worked as a songwriter for various other artists including Deep Jandu, Elly Mangat, and international Punjabi icon Diljit Dosanjh.
On the Play: Remixes EP, Aujla features on “Symmetry,” a Punjabi-English fusion track. “Karan is culture,” said Sheeran on social media. “He taught me the Punjabi parts on this song in the studio. I feel like this is the beginning of our collaborative journey.”
Ed Sheeran & Jonita Gandhi — “Heaven”
Ed and Jonita in a picture from her Instagram
Jonita Gandhi/Instagram
Jonita Gandhi is an Indo-Canadian singer who has sung over 150 songs in more than 10 languages throughout her career. She made her playback debut in India with Chennai Express more than 12 years ago. Before moving to India, she had already started working with Sonu Nigam and touring with him, and early on in her Mumbai career, she was discovered by Oscar and Grammy winner AR Rahman.
“Heaven” is Ed Sheeran’s first Hindi-language release. Sheeran said: “I love her voice, the tone, the softness. This was the perfect tune for us to do together and it’s also the first Hindi song I have released. It’s an honour to do it with her — what a talent.”
Gandhi recorded her vocals during what she described as a “hell week,” flying between cities for events and performances while meticulously checking and sending files to ensure all her harmonies and vocal layers made it to Sheeran’s team.
Ed Sheeran & Hanumankind, Dhee, and Santhosh Narayanan — “Don’t Look Down”
The last of the tracks on the remixes album is “Don’t Look Down”, a Tamil-English fusion track featuring rapper Hanumankind, singer Dhee, and composer Santhosh Narayanan.
Hanumankind
Sooraj Cherukat (Hanumankind) and Ed Sheeran pose in a picture shared on Instagram
Hanumankind/Instagram
Sooraj Cherukat, known professionally as Hanumankind, is a rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor from Kerala, India. He later went on to live in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Egypt, Qatar, and Italy before settling down in Houston, Texas when he was in second grade. He released his first single “Daily Dose” from his debut EP Kalari in 2019.
Hanumankind’s viral breakthrough came in 2024, with his track “Big Dawgs”. The song reached number 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and has amassed over 490 million streams on Spotify, with its music video going viral for featuring Hanumankind performing in a “well of death” carnival attraction.
Dhee
L-R: Meenakshi Iyer, Dhee, and Santhosh Narayanan in a picture posted to the latter’s Twitter in 2018.
Santhosh Narayanan/Twitter
Dheekshitha Venkadeshan known professionally as Dhee, is an Australian singer known for her work as a playback singer in Indian cinema. Her parents include Carnatic musician Meenakshi Iyer, and Indian music composer Santhosh Narayanan, her stepfather who also featured on the track with her.
Dhee’s career-defining moment came with one of the most-viewed Indian songs of all time — “Rowdy Baby” in Maari 2 (2018).
The track has gained more than 1.7 billion views on YouTube, making it the highest viewed Tamil music video and one of the most-viewed Indian videos of all time.
She made her debut in independent Tamil pop with “Enjoy Enjaami,” featuring Arivu with Santhosh Narayanan, in March 2021, which gained over 50 million views within weeks. The song crossed over 100 million views in less than a month on YouTube.
On the EP, Dhee joins Hanumankind and Santhosh Narayanan on “Don’t Look Down.”
Santhosh Narayanan
Narayanan at the premiere of Kadugu
Sriram Narasimhan, Silverscreen Media Inc.
Composer, music producer and singer Santhosh Narayanan is primarily active in Tamil cinema, also having composed for notable Telugu and Malayalam films. Narayanan made his debut as an independent composer with the 2012 film Attakathi, and has scored music for over 51 films.
He is known for bringing back gaana music to Tamil cinema and for his fusion of several genres, including folk, electro, and gangsta rap.
Ed Sheeran said about working with Narayanan: “Santhosh is one of the greatest film composers and introduced me to Dhee, who is such an amazing talent and voice. I wanted to represent South India on this EP and the beautiful Tamil language, and they have done such an amazing job in fusing all of this together.”
