Ed Sheeran has released his new single Azizam.
The 34-year-old singer dropped the Persian-inspired track from his upcoming eighth studio album Play at midnight on Friday (April 4), alongside the accompanying dance music video titled Pink Heart.
Taking to Instagram, Ed shared: “Azizam is out now. I’m so overwhelmed with the positive reaction to this song, and so excited for all the other surprises I have for ya.
“Hope this sets the scene of the soundtrack to your summer, more to come xx.”
The Shape of You hitmaker recently teased he had filmed Pink Heart “across the USA” in March, with Ed wanting to reflect the “amazing atmosphere” in the locations he travelled to in the music video.
He explained on Instagram: “Azizam (Pink Heart video) out tomorrow, we filmed this across USA (and a bit in Ipswich) whilst promoting the song this month. It was an amazing atmosphere wherever we went, I wanted to reflect that with the video.
“Big up @liampethickphoto for pulling out all the stops and making this video so good, and all the fans that went to see the pink hearts all around the world. Song is out midnight where you are, so excited.”
Ed worked with producer Ilya Salmanzadeh on Azizam — which means “my dear” in Persian — who had suggested to the artist that he should try “making music inspired by his Persian heritage and culture”.
He explained on social media: “I wrote Azizam after @ilya_music suggested trying out making music inspired by his Persian heritage and culture. I love learning about music and different cultures the more I travel and connect with people.
“It was like opening a door to a completely new and exciting world. I loved how a lot of rhythms, scales, melodies and instruments were different but similar to the Irish [traditional] music I had grown up with.
“It was showing to me music connects us all and really is a universal language. This whole album is about being playful, explorative, and celebratory.
“The song comes out April 4, and it’s really great. Hope you like it too. And thank you to Ilya for introducing me to such a fantastic world and culture.”
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