Ed Sheeran delayed album because of US election

Ed Sheeran delayed the release of his new album because of the US presidential elections.

The ‘Castle on the Hill’ hitmaker originally planned to unveil his latest LP ‘÷’ back in November 2016 but changed his mind after the "s**t storm" surrounding the event, which eventually saw Donald Trump be named the US president elect.

Ed said: "The plan was to come in September and then the album was meant to come in November, but the week the album was coming out was the week the presidential elections – that was just a s**t storm of media and I was like obviously if I come out with a record then no one’s gonna care and then the week after Bruno [Mars] came out, the week after The Weeknd came out and I was like …

"It feels like a clean start this year not like any time I’ve come out there’s always been another person. Like remember the first year I came out, being nominated for every award but then Adele was nominated for every award, and I’d kinda turn up like, uh yeah. But this year it kinda feels like there’s no one there … I’m very, very confident in this year. This year is mine!"

And the 25-year-old singer is hoping his latest release will be the "biggest album in the world" as he feels his career is "really beginning" now.

Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1 Radio, he added: "I see myself as two different people. I think there’s me, normal me, who goes to the pub with his mates, goes on bike rides, hangs out with his cats and then there’s ‘juggernaut’ who puts three years of work into an album and feels the whole world has to hear it.

"I’m never going to hide the fact that I’m a very competitive person and I do want this to be the biggest album in the world. But this is where my career really begins – the rest has been a set up to this point."