Ed Sheeran is back. The British crooner returns from his year-long absence with not one, but two new singles—”Castle on the Hill” and “Shape of You”—off his upcoming third album ÷.
The latter, produced by Steve Mac and co-produced by Sheeran, is an infectious bop, which finds Sheeran expressing physical and emotional attraction for his lady.
“I’m in the love with the shape of you / We push and pull like a magnet do,” he sings over his signature loop pedal. “Although my heart is falling too / I’m in love with your body.”
Listen to his sweet serenade below.
On “Castle on the Hill,” written and produced by Sheeran and Benny Blanco, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter reflects on growing up in the English countryside town of Framlingham, Suffolk. Over driving guitar riffs, he recalls his first kiss and getting drunk with his friends, and yearns to relive the past.
“Take me back to when we found weekend jobs / When we got paid, we’d buy cheap spirits and drink them straight,” he sings. “Me and my friends have not thrown up in so long / Oh how we’ve grown / I can’t wait to go home.”
The songs are a long time coming for Sheeran fans. After all, he disappeared from social media for a year and his last studio album + dropped back in 2014.
“Hello 2017! I’ve been working hard on the new material and I hope you can be as excited about it as I am,” Sheeran said in a statement. “I really wanted to show two different sides to my music that I’m equally as passionate about and I just knew I wanted to roll with two songs at the same time. I’m absolutely buzzing to be back.”