Ed Sheeran hints at new album this year

The Castle on the Hill hitmaker celebrated his 30th birthday on Wednesday (Feb 17), and used an Instagram post marking the special occasion to also reveal his career plans for 2021.

Ed told his followers he plans to drop a "fourth instalment in the series" this year, which is heavily speculated to be a reference to his mathematics-themed album titles, having previously released records named Plus, Multiply, and Divide.

Alongside a picture of his birthday cake and a photo of himself as a child dressed as a pirate, he wrote: "30 today. Thank you for all your wonderful messages, I feel very loved. Currently dressed the same as I was on my 3rd birthday about to chow down on Colin the pirate caterpillar, poor bloke. I'll be back online with the 4th instalment in the series later this year, until then xx (sic)"

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Although the Shape of You singer didn't give any further details, it's thought his next album could follow the same format and be named either Minus or Subtract.

The news comes after Ed released a new track named Afterglow in December.

To announce the release, the Grammy-winner shared his Jackson Pollock-inspired painting for the single's artwork and told fans he would give them "a Christmas present".

He wrote: "11am GMT tomorrow. A Christmas present.(sic)"

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The uplifting ballad was accompanied with a one-take performance of the track as the music video.

He wrote: "Hey guys. Afterglow is a song I wrote last year that I wanted to release for you. It's not the first single from the next album, it's just a song I love, and hope you love too. Enjoy ! Have a safe and happy festive break and New Year's. Back to dad land for me now, ciao x (sic)"

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It marked the first new material from Ed since his 2019 album, No.6 Collaborations Project, which featured the likes of Stormzy, Khalid, Cardi B, Chance the Rapper and Eminem, and came a year after the singer-songwriter announced his hiatus from music.