Ed Sheeran announces new album equals '=' as Framlingham star announces release date of October 29

Suffolk superstar Ed Sheeran has announced that his new album '=' will be released in October.

The Framlingham singer told his 33.7million Instagram followers about his newest project at 2pm today after having teased the news yesterday with an image of a butterfly and the comment 'announcement tomorrow'.

"It has been two years since I've released a project and four years since I've released a solo album," he said.

"I'm putting out my fourth studio solo album on October 29 and it's going to be called 'equals' which you might have guessed."

Sheeran hinted towards the album name back in June following the reveal of the new Ipswich Town Football Club shirt which the singer sponsored. At the time, he told KISS radio that the album name was featured on that kit.

The shirt features five mathematical symbols including + (plus), ÷ (divided) and x (multiply) which are the names of his first three solo albums, as well as the equals and minus symbols.

In today's video, Sheeran added that he had painted part of the album cover during lockdown, with his friend Zach having designed the other parts.

"The symbolism of the album is new life. I've been through, over the last four years, different experiences in life including getting married, having a kid, losing a friend, and I just felt that the butterfly symbolism fit in with that," he said.

The album will feature 14 songs, with Sheeran having described the process of 'cutting down' the tracklist as 'painstaking'.

"I love it. I think it's the best bit of work I've done, it's cohesive and I think it feels great," he said.

Following the announcement, Sheeran sang his song 'Visiting Hours', which also released this afternoon.

The album is now available for pre-order.

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