Ed Sheeran reveals he's been working on his fourth album for the last seven years

In case you hadn't had your fill of Ed Sheeran this year, fear not, because he's been working on his next album... for the last seven years.

That's right - Ed says he's been working on his fourth record, likely to be called '-' (Subtract) - since writing his debut album + in 2011. 

"I’ve been working on this one since the same time as [debut album] Plus," he told The Sun. "Every year I write a song that will go on it. So I have about six, seven at the moment."

Why has he taken this approach? It seems it's because he wants it to be his magnum opus.

"It’s not necessarily experimental, but I don’t think there’ll be any hot radio songs on it this time," he continued. "It’s a very acoustic record, very acoustic". No Shape Of Yous then.

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As for a release date, it could be out as late as 2021, explaining: “It will potentially come later, because it’s been about six years in the making and it might be another three or four. So I might put other stuff out before then, just to have something out." 

One of those things could well be a collaboration with DJ Khaled, which he teased way back in September 2015.

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A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos) on Sep 10, 2015 at 2:17am PDT

Ed's latest album ÷ has been a global success, topping the Official Albums Chart for 11 weeks so far. 

Last weekend he played the record (and his previous two) to 100,000 festival goers at Glastonbury, where he headlined the Pyramid Stage on Sunday.

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Article image: Rex