Ed Sheeran learned Spanish to record two new songs with Latin superstar J BalvinEd Sheeran learned Spanish to record two new songs with Latin superstar J Balvin

JMEnternational/Getty Images

Last week, Ed Sheeran said his next release would be something of a “curveball,” and he wasn’t lying: He’s releasing two songs with Latin superstar J Balvin — and he’s singing in Spanish.

In an Instagram post, Ed explains, “So I want to share something with you that I’ve been working on. I met @jbalvin in a gym in New York last year.  It was just me and him very early in the morning. I recognized his voice when he was on the phone so I just went up and said hi.”

“We chatted so long we ended up having lunch and then afternoon tea. Then just went to being mates who chatted non stop,” Ed continues. “I was in New York at Christmas for shows so we decided to have one day in the studio that led to so so much more, which you’ll find out about soon. But the first two songs we wrote are ‘Sigue’ and ‘Forever My Love,’ they are out soon, and I absolutely love them.”

“He wanted to bring me into his world, and I wanted to bring him into mine,” Ed concludes. “Was a proper challenge learning Spanish for this and I had so much fun doing it.  Hope you guys love it as much as I do, and look out for more to come.”

The post is accompanied by sped-up footage of what appears to be a video shoot for either one or both songs. No release date has been announced yet.

J Balvin is one of the best-selling artists in Latin music, and has collaborated with Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, The Black Eyed Peas and Dua Lipa.  He also topped the charts along with Cardi B and Bad Bunny with the number-one 2018 smash, “I Like It.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.