After a quiet 2020, Ed Sheeran has been more publicly visible this year. That’s especially true of the past few weeks, which have seen Sheeran palling around with Courteney Cox and making hilarious radio appearances. He has also teased a new album, which seems like it will have a more full-band sound than Sheeran’s previous material. Now, it looks like we have an approximate timeline for when the new era will begin.
Yesterday, Sheeran shared a photo of himself making a pained and nervous face and wrote on Instagram, “The moment you realise your first solo single in 4 years is coming out in a few weeks.”
Some fans in the comments noted that Sheeran’s solo song “Afterglow,” which he released in December 2020, could be considered a solo single, thus invalidating Sheeran’s caption. When Sheeran shared the track, though, he wrote, “It’s not the first single from the next album, it’s just a song I love, and hope you love too.”
Meanwhile, Sheeran returned to Instagram today with what may be an advance look at his upcoming era (but also maybe not). In the photo, Sheeran is dressed up as a Twilight-like vampire, complete with fangs, black fingernails, and styled hair. Sheeran wrote, “The nails were a nightmare to try and take a piss with. Wouldn’t recommend.” The photographer behind the image, Zakary Walters, also recently shared a photo of Sheeran drinking wine and spilling it all over himself.
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.