Ed Sheeran is trying his hand at being a DJ with his first remix under the alias "Gingerbread mix".

The 'Shape of You' hitmaker recently made a comeback with the surprise new track, 'Afterglow', and now he's put a spin on his pal and old tour buddy Passenger's song, 'Sword From The Stone’, which is due out next week.

An insider told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column of Ed's first musical release with the 'Let Her Go' hitmaker - whose real name is Mike Rosenberg - that: “They have been friends for years after meeting when they were teenagers and have covered songs together before but never done anything like this.

“They’ve stayed really good mates and when Mike asked if Ed would be up for working together, he said yes straight away. Getting together in the studio wasn’t really an option in 2020 but Ed has produced this new remix of 'Sword From The Stone' and they both love it.

“Mike has been the support act for loads of Ed’s concerts over the years, most recently in 2019 during his 'Divide Tour', so it was really nice for them to do something new together.”

The remix news comes just over two weeks after Ed returned with 'Afterglow'.

To announce the release, the Grammy-winner shared his Jackson Pollock-inspired painting for the single's artwork and told fans he would give them "a Christmas present".

He wrote: "11am GMT tomorrow. A Christmas present.(sic)"

The uplifting ballad was accompanied with a one-take performance of the track as the music video.

He wrote: “Hey guys. Afterglow is a song I wrote last year that I wanted to release for you. It’s not the first single from the next album, it’s just a song I love, and hope you love too. Enjoy ! Have a safe and happy festive break and New Year’s. Back to dad land for me now, ciao x (sic)"

It marked the first new material from Ed since his 2019 album, 'No.6 Collaborations Project', which featured the likes of Stormzy, Khalid, Cardi B, Chance the Rapper and Eminem, and came a year after the singer-songwriter announced his hiatus from music.

Since then, Ed welcomed his first child with wife Cherry Seaborn, daughter Lyra, in August.