Ed Sheeran prepping new album while on Taylor Swift's tour

Ed Sheeran

Credit: AP Photo

Ed Sheeran is still riding high on his hit, “The A-Team,” with “Lego House” in the wings, but he already has his next album in mind.

The British singer/songwriter, who will hit the road with Taylor Swift this spring, tells Billboard that he has already written 26 songs for the next record. “I’ve got another nine months on the road to keep writing as well so the record’s definitely on his way.” He predicts a February 2014 release date. He expects to record on the road as well.

Sheeran, who co-wrote “Everything Has Changed” with Swift for her current album, “Red,” will be the opening act for Swift for her outing, which begins March 13 in Omaha, Neb.

He says the song, which they wrote on a trampoline, “was pretty much 100% her idea in the first place. I did what I could to help, but she definitely knows what she’s doing.” They'll have plenty of time to write together while on tour, so maybe a Sheeran/Swift compostion will show up on his new album.

As for his follow-up to “+,” Sheeran says to expect a slighter maturer sound. “Most of the first record was written when I was 17, 18, at the time, and I’m 21 now. So I’ve definitely evolved in the way I write songs and the way I perform. The whole mindspace. So it’s going to be a little more developed.”