Ed Sheeran has hinted that he’ll release a new album this year.

The highly acclaimed British superstar celebrated his 30th birthday on Wednesday (Feb. 17), and used an Instagram post marking the special occasion to also reveal his career plans for 2021.

Sheeran told his followers he plans to drop a “fourth instalment in the series” this year, which is heavily speculated to be a reference to his mathematics-themed album titles, having previously released records named ‘Plus’, ‘Multiply’ and ‘Divide’.

Alongside a picture of his birthday cake and a photo of himself as a child dressed as a pirate, he wrote: “30 today. Thank you for all your wonderful messages, I feel very loved. Currently dressed the same as I was on my 3rd birthday about to chow down on Colin the pirate caterpillar, poor bloke.

“I’ll be back online with the 4th instalment in the series later this year, until then xx (sic)”

Although the musician didn’t give any further details, it’s thought his next album could follow the same format and be named either ‘Minus’ or ‘Subtract’.

The news comes after Sheeran released a new track named ‘Afterglow’ in December of last year. To announce the release, the Grammy-winner shared his Jackson Pollock-inspired painting for the single's artwork and told fans that he would give them "a Christmas present".

The uplifting ballad was accompanied with a one-take performance of the track as the music video. It marked the first new material from him since his 2019 album, No.6 Collaborations Project, which featured the likes of Stormzy, Khalid, Cardi B, Chance the Rapper and Eminem, and came a year after he announced his hiatus from music.

Listen/stream Ed Sheeran.