{"id":282917,"date":"2017-01-08T14:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-01-08T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=282917"},"modified":"2017-11-10T10:59:03","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T10:59:03","slug":"ed-sheeran-releases-two-new-tracks-to-mark-his-return-to-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=282917","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran releases two new tracks to mark his return to music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ed Sheeran has released two new songs, Castle on the Hill and Shape of You, to mark his return to music.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old said the double release was “’cause I have been away for a bit”.<\/p>\n

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.”<\/p>\n

The tracks are taken from his forthcoming album, which is called \u00f7 (Divide).<\/p>\n

He’s clearly maintaining the maths symbol themed album names. His first was called + (Plus), while his second album was called x (Multiply).<\/p>\n

The songs, which were released at 5am GMT, also sparked #WelcomeBackEd.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“I’ve shot the music video actually in Suffolk and the cast of it are people from my high school.<\/p>\n

“The main guy who looks just like me is weirdly from my sixth form.”<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

“The funny thing is while I have music waiting to be released I usually end up playing it to random people.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

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Ed Sheeran says the album was recorded while he was travelling which meant him having to build a studio on a ship.<\/p>\n

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.”<\/p>\n

Singer Shawn Mendes, Friends star Courtney Cox and presenter Ryan Seacrest have all given the thumbs up to Ed’s new sound.<\/p>\n

Talking about the single, Shape of You, the singer says he wrote the song with Rihanna in mind.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

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Ed Sheeran has penned tracks for One Direction, Taylor Swift and Olly Murs and says after one writing session he gave X Factor boss Simon Cowell a call.<\/p>\n

“As soon as I finished with, When Christmas Comes Around, I thought this sounds like an X Factor song.”<\/p>\n

The track was recorded by the eventual winner of the show Matt Terry.<\/p>\n