‘Saturday Night Live’ music: Ed Sheeran performs ‘Shape of You,’ ‘Castle on the Hill’

Tonight, Ed Sheeran was the musical guest for the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live,” and while on the show, he provided a good opportunity to let us hear some of his music.

We admit that Sheeran is the sort of artist who we’re always a step behind — by that, we mean that our tendency is to hear one of his songs for the first time a couple of months after everyone else. Therefore, “Shape of You,” his first song from the show tonight, was completely new to us. Still, there were a number of things that were very cool about the track, from the upbeat vibe to the slight reggae vibe to it. Sheeran was still his signature himself, in between the guitar and the incredible stage presence, but there was also something that was different about it from his past music. This is a guy who clearly doesn’t want to be known for doing any one thing, and you have to applaud him for that.

The unfortunate thing is that it’s hard to really judge how this song stacks up “Thinking Out Loud” or any of his other hits upon hearing it for the first time. That’s something that will take a few more listens in order to figure out.

Second song – This song is another new one in “Castle on the Hill,” and it’s probably our favorite of the two, mostly because it blends together some of Ed’s familiar folk-rock with powerful storytelling and a sound that was reminiscent in some ways on U2. This was a very personal song to him, and there’s something very nice about seeing someone who is such a big star in music these days actually come out and do a song that is this heartfelt.

The next musical guest – Unfortunately, NBC did not announce that tonight. We figure that it’ll be announced in a couple of weeks, so be on the lookout on the site.

What did you think of the performances tonight from Ed? Let us know in the comments! Meanwhile, head over here in the event you want to read our full review for tonight’s episode. (Photo: NBC.)