Ed Sheeran has staged the most brilliant comeback after a year away from the music business, and the British singer-songwriter may just achieve something pretty special.

After debuting two new singles on Friday, the 25-year-old looks set to top the charts next week.

Not only that, but he could also nab the number two spot, as both of his tracks have already smashed the competition on the iTunes chart.

Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran (Yui Mok PA Archive/PA Images)

Shape Of You went straight to number one, while Castle On The Hill is currently at number two, a very rare feat for an artist.

If the iTunes chart is anything to go by, Ed might just knock reigning number one champions Clean Bandit off their top spot – where they’ve sat for nine weeks – with his long-awaited new releases.

Appearing on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Ed revealed that Castle On The Hill is a “love song for Suffolk”, where he grew up, while Shape Of You was originally intended for Rihanna.

Ed released his new music before the crack of dawn on Friday with the statement: “I really wanted to show two different sides to my music that I’m equally as passionate about and I just knew I wanted to roll with two songs at the same time. I’m absolutely buzzing to be back.”

His return comes after he posted a short video of himself the previous week holding up a sign reading: “New music coming Friday!!”

The Thinking Out Loud singer announced in 2015 that he was “taking a break from my phone, emails and all social media for a while” because he was “seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes”.

The Brit and Grammy Award-winner promised fans a third album was in the making, and that it would be “the best thing I have made thus far”.