Last year’s pandemic certainly threw a wrench into new music plans for plenty of performers, including some of the biggest pop stars in the world. And unlike his good friend Taylor Swift, who used the pandemic to churn out both folklore and evermore, Ed Sheeran has been sitting on a big new single that he says will usher in his next era.
In a recent interview with Radio 1’s Jordan North, Sheeran let fans know that he was planning to have a brand new song to kick off his set at his Big Weekend show for the station. “My first single was meant to be ready for now, and I was meant to be playing it at One Big Weekend,” he said. “So it does feel a bit weird playing — starting with ‘Castle On The Hill’ instead of the new tune, but, it’s great, I’m using a band for the first time, and it feels like the next stage.”
The show this weekend will be the first time fans have seen Sheeran perform with a full band, as he explains to the interviewer. “I’ve done band stuff before, but only kind of at the request of TV shows,” Sheeran explained. “I’ve done the loop pedal thing now for fifteen years, ten years professionally, and the last tour that I did… the most people of any tour went to that tour. So I’m kind of like I’ve done that, I’ve done the loop pedal show I need to do something different. What I like about it is what I felt were the weakest bits of the tour are some of the songs that needed a band, like ‘Castle On The Hill’ and ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and the best bits of the tour needed pedal, like ‘Shape Of You’ and ‘Bloodstream.” Now the set feels very on level with each other. It’s kind of a learning experience for me.’”
Sheeran said he’s doing two new songs he’s never played live, “Afterglow,” released at Christmas, and another new one he’s played only at a funeral before. And to the question of expecting a new album soon Sheeran answers: “Yeah, yeah, the new album is coming.” So there you have it. Watch the whole interview above, and look out for new music from Ed Sheeran coming up very soon after this weekend’s performance.