Ed Sheeran returns with a surprise single, 'Afterglow'

English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, who took a self-imposed break from the music business last December and had a child with wife Cherry Seaborn this past August, dropped a new single on Sunday, his first new music since an Eminem collaboration in January.

After first teasing his 31.7 million Instagram followers on Saturday with "11am GMT tomorrow. A Christmas present," Sheeran, 29, the following day posted a cropped snippet of the music video for his new song "Afterglow," with the full widescreen video released on the singer's YouTube channel.

"Hey guys," Sheeran wrote on Instagram and Facebook. "Afterglow is a song I wrote last year that I wanted to release for you. It's not the first single from the next album, it's just a song I love, and hope you love too. Enjoy! Have a safe and happy festive break and New Year's. Back to dad land for me now, ciao x."

Sheeran and Seaborn had daughter Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran in late August.

"Afterglow," a soft, romantic ballad, is a paean to a loved one, with lyrics extolling "the way the light dances off your hair … The sun's reflected by the coffee in your hand / My eyes are caught in your gaze all over again." The narrator finds himself "So alone in love like the world had disappeared / Oh I won't be silent and I won't let go / I will hold on tighter 'til the afterglow."

The abstract-expressionist cover art for the single was created by Sheeran himself, according to the trade magazine Variety, which credits the song to composers Sheeran, David Hodges and Fred Gibson.

Four-time Grammy Award-winner Sheeran last released a single as lead artist in August 2019, with two remixes of the album track "Take Me Back to London" from "No. 6 Collaborations Project." Sheeran additionally was the featured guest on Eminem's "Those Kinda Nights," from the rapper's surprise album "Music To Be Murdered By" in January.