With a total of forty-three awards earned and over 100 award nominations received, Ed Sheeran has grown over the years to become one of the world’s most well known musicians. Previously his past albums, X and +, have done extremely well. His new album coming out is called Divide. Ed Sheeran did not release the whole album yet, but did in fact give his loyal fans a sneak peak with his release of two singles. Currently there is no set scheduled date on which Divide will be released, but Sheeran hinted that the album will be released soon.

Junior Erin Cunningham said, “Ed’s new songs are so good and I am so excited that his album comes out on my birthday. I absolutely cannot wait! Those two songs blew up so quickly among his fan base, and is predicted that the rest of his songs will follow in the footsteps and not disappoint!

The two singles that were released are called Shape of You and Castle on the Hill, and are respectively number 1 and 2 on the iTunes top charts at the moment. Daily Mail reported that “Ed Sheeran has made history with both his comeback singles reaching over thirteen million streams in 24 hours.” Shape of You has had 7,240,930 daily listeners, and Castle on the Hill has had 4,828,158 daily listeners just since it was released. Ed Sheeran has a huge fandom and he never disappoints them with his creations.  

Ed Sheeran is known for his more mellow songs, but with the release of these two singles, it is clear that he, like his counterpart and friend, Taylor Swift, will be shifting more towards a pop-based musical platform. Junior Lauren Browne said that “Shape of You is a great pop song that has a fast-paced beat and puts me in such a great mood. His new music is a new side of him that I love to see, while still incorporating his regular self.”

These two songs prove that Sheeran has strayed from his A-Team and Photograph, and is moving towards a new, pop style of music. Castle on the Hill and Shape of You prove that his fan base is accepting and welcoming towards Sheeran’s shift.

With the extreme success of his new singles, it is worth it to take a listen and add it to your favorites for the start of the year.