Christmas came a little late for Ed Sheeran fans when the Grammy winner released his first new music in more than a year around midnight on Friday, January 6.
"Cause I've been away for a bit here's two singles rather than one," the singer, 25, tweeted along with a link to the songs, "Castle on the Hill" and "Shape of You."
"Castle on the Hill" recalls bittersweet hometown memories. "I was younger then / take me back to when I found my heart and broke it here / made friends and lost them through the years," Sheeran sings. The song was written and produced by Sheeran and Benny Blanco.
"Shape of You," which Sheeran cowrote with Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, is about a budding romance and features a catchy chorus. "Oh I, Oh I, Oh I, Oh I, I'm in love with your body," he sings over a tribal beat.
The "Thinking Out Loud" singer announced in December 2015 that he was taking an extended hiatus after wrapping up a 16-month-long world tour.
"Hello all. I'm taking a break from my phone, emails and all social media for a while," the British crooner wrote. "I've had such an amazing ride over the last 5 years but I find myself seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes so I'm taking this opportunity of me not having to be anywhere or do anything to travel the world and see everything I missed."
Sheeran, who released his debut album, +, in 2011, and followed it up in 2014 with x, said in a press release on Thursday that he was "absolutely buzzing to be back."
"I've been working hard on the new material and I hope you can be as excited about it as I am," Taylor Swift's bestie said. "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."
Download or stream the songs here.
