Ed Sheeran has released two new songs, Castle on the Hill and Shape of You, to mark his return to music.
The 25-year-old said the double release was “’cause I have been away for a bit”.
In December 2015, the singer announced he’d be taking a break from music so he could “travel the world and see everything I missed.”
The tracks are taken from his forthcoming album, which is called ÷ (Divide).
He’s clearly maintaining the maths symbol themed album names. His first was called + (Plus), while his second album was called x (Multiply).
The songs, which were released at 5am GMT, also sparked #WelcomeBackEd.
Speaking on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Ed said: “Castle on the Hill is a love song for Suffolk because I don’t think anyone has ever done that.
“I’ve shot the music video actually in Suffolk and the cast of it are people from my high school.
“The main guy who looks just like me is weirdly from my sixth form.”
Ed Sheeran told Scott Mills that he originally wanted to release new music in September 2016 but held back because it’s a really busy period for releasing music.
“The funny thing is while I have music waiting to be released I usually end up playing it to random people.
“Normally when I’ve been out drinking I’ll be like, ‘Hey mate do you want to hear my new song?’ that happens a lot.”
He said: “My biggest fan base is in the Philippines and everyone that worked on the ship was Filipino. So I spent the trip taking pictures and signing stuff.”
Singer Shawn Mendes, Friends star Courtney Cox and presenter Ryan Seacrest have all given the thumbs up to Ed’s new sound.
Talking about the single, Shape of You, the singer says he wrote the song with Rihanna in mind.
“But then I was singing some of the lyrics and was like Rihanna is not going to sing these words so kept it to myself,” he laughed.
“As soon as I finished with, When Christmas Comes Around, I thought this sounds like an X Factor song.”
The track was recorded by the eventual winner of the show Matt Terry.
