According to People, "Afterglow" is the first release from Sheeran after his No.6 Collaborations Project in July 2019. His announcement of an extended break had fans worried it would be a longtime until they got some new music, but this new song gives them hope. In the Instagram post, fans commented things like "ED IS BACK" and "It's happening" (via Elite Daily). Though, there is no official word on an album just yet. 

Sheeran did post a teaser for his "Afterglow" drop on Instagram the day before with a Jackson Pollock-like painting (via Billboard). Who knows if this is album artwork, or just artwork to accompany the song that is now streaming. What we do know is that Sheeran had already been working on new music, and now, he has given us "Afterglow." 

In his break announcement post, he did state that he just wanted to live a little more so that he "actually [had] something to write about." Becoming a new father and dealing with 2020 is a lot to write about, so it could be time. Until we know for sure, fans can keep themselves entertained listening to this acoustic love ballad until the singer-songwriter is ready to give us more.