Songfacts®:

• Autumn Variations is Ed Sheeran's first album released independently on his own label, Gingerbread Man Records. The album is inspired by the changing seasons, the life experiences of Sheeran and his friends, and the music of composer Edward Elgar.
  
  When Sheeran announced the album on social media on August 24, 2023, he wrote: "Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded."
  
  The album's title nods to Edward Elgar's 1899 orchestral work "Enigma Variations."
  
  "My dad and brother told me about a composer called Elgar, who composed 'Enigma Variations,' where each of the 14 compositions were about a different one of his friends," said Sheeran. "This is what inspired me to make this album."
• "Magical" is the opening track on Autumn Variations. The airy ballad is about the spark in a relationship, the feeling of wonder and excitement that comes with falling in love for the first time.
  
  Is this how it feels to be in love?
  This is magical, this is magical
  
  Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn were classmates at the same school and stayed in touch after Sheeran moved to London in 2008. They started dating in 2015 and married in January 2019. Here, he recalls his joy when they first fell in love.
• Aaron Dessner co-wrote and produced "Magical" along with the rest of Autumn Variations. He also produced Sheeran's previous album, Subtract. Dessner is a member of the alternative rock band The National and has worked with many other artists, including Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, and Sharon Van Etten.
• Dessner played the mellotron, guitar synthesizer and Juno synthesizer. The other musicians are:
  
  J.T. Bates: drums
  James Krivchenia: tambourine, shaker
  James McAlister: guitar, synthesizer, Prophet synthesizer, Omnichord Synthesizer
  Josh Kaufman: guitar
  Ben Lanz: trombone
  Reggie Pace: trombone