2017 officially just got about 45673 times better and it's all thanks to Ed Sheeran, who has kicked off the year dropping not onebut two comeback singles - that's the nostalgic 'Castle On The Hill' and the dizzily anthemic 'Shape Of You' -after a year away.

If you thought Ed was too busy traveling the world, partying with great mate Taylor Swift and getting his face sliced open by a sword-wielding princess (true story), then you'd be wrong and it looks like he was secretly using the time away to workon his third record too.

But now the waiting is over:the first two singles are hereand with their sharply different sounds, let's just say that they're guaranteed to get fans of his first two albums oh soready for third outing, thought to be called Divide.

First up we have 'Castle On The Hill', a dreamy and nostalgic love letterto childhood and old friends that's exactly the kind of love storyyou'd expect and absolutely'want'to hear front and centre on any Ed record.

Written and produced by Ed and Benny Blanco, it's a sweet but never saccharine confessional with a punchy, anthemicchorus that you know is going to sound incredible driving in the car with the windows down and thespeakers blaring.

Next up is the stadium-ready sounds of 'Shape Of You', which sees Ed totally refresh his classic technique of using little more than aloop pedal to create a whole new sense of sound.While it has a similar feeling to 'You Don't Need Me' and the darker 'Bloodstream' on the last album, it's big-souding and infectious, full of Bieber-esquebeats andriffs catchier than an STI on theMagaluf strip.

The lyrics are sexy as hell too,as heconfesses:"'I’m in love with the shape of you / Wepush and pull like a magnet do / Although my heart is falling too / I'm in love with your body."'

'So what do you make of those two then? Drop us a tweet to @MTVUK to let us know after a watch of the all the latest celeb goss from MTV News below...'