Ed Sheeran Teases New Project That's 'More of a Curveball' — and Reveals It's Coming Next Week

He may still be fresh off the release of his fifth album =, but Ed Sheeran is not slowing down.

The "Bad Habits" singer revealed that he's already got plans for a new project up his sleeve, and fans can expect to hear it as early as next week.

Sheeran, 31, appeared on The Project NZ on Wednesday and was asked if his next album will be titled – (Minus), in keeping with his math-themed symbol titles.

"Well, that's not going to be the next record I put out. I've got something else that's a bit more of a curveball," he teased. "We've got the first thing of it dropping in 10 days; in 10 days there's gonna be something coming out."

Though Sheeran didn't offer any further details on the mysterious project, he did say that he doesn't expect it to be a hit in New Zealand.

"It's more gonna be a big hit somewhere else," he said. "When you hear it you'll understand. You'll be like, 'Yeah.'"

The four-time Grammy winner released = in October, buoyed by singles like "Bad Habits," "Shivers" and "Overpass Graffiti." It was his fourth symbol album, after + in 2011, x in 2014 and ÷ in 2017.

Sheeran explained on The Project NZ that despite his use of math symbols, he isn't actually a big fan of the subject.

"I very early on in my career decided… I don't mean to play it down, but I do have a face for the radio and I was like, I don't really want to be a poster boy ever, I don't want to be like, selling my record being like, 'Hey, how you doin'?'" he said. "So I had sort of figured out a way — I was like, I'm going to do it with colors and symbols. So I was like, I'd love to get to a point where there's a billboard of just red with an equal sign, or green with a multiply, or blue with a divide, or orange with a plus, and people go, 'Oh, Ed's got an album coming out.'"

= was Sheeran's first release since he put out No. 6 Collaborations Project in 2019, and he's stayed busy in the months since, putting out a new version of "The Joker and The Queen" with Taylor Swift, and hopping on Camila Cabello's new single "Bam Bam."

He's got plenty more to look forward to in addition to the mysterious project dropping next week — in November, he said he eventually wants to make 10 symbol records, though the next five will not be math-related, and he also plans to do a No. 7 collaborations project, according to NME.