Ed Sheeran is planning a trip to Ghana as part of his 2016 hiatus, so he can absorb the nation's music for his next project.

Just like Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel turned to African music to inspire and inform them in the 1980s, Sheeran hopes he'll return to the studio energised.

He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I know a load of Ghanaian musicians in London and they've always told me to go over there. I feel like I'd go there and be revitalised.

"Their music industry isn't like our music industry. Our music industry is really cutthroat and people trying to climb on top of each other to get to the top. They just do it to create music because they love it."