MMVAs host Ed Sheeran working on third album while touring Canada

Ed Sheeran performs at Rock in Rio USA at the MGM Resorts Festival Grounds in Las Vegas on May 15, 2015. (John Davisson / Invision)

TORONTO -- Ed Sheeran was 21 when he first appeared at the Much Music Video Awards in 2012, sporting a red Roots T-shirt and singing "The A Team" eight months before he'd perform the same song with Elton John at the Grammys.

The MMVAs caught Sheeran when fame was fresh, but already he knew what he liked -- and what he didn't.

"I remember (Much) tried to get 200 kids dressed as angels to stand behind me," Sheeran said in a recent telephone interview with a laugh.

"We said no."

Still, Sheeran remembers having "a lot of fun," and perhaps that's why he's been back every year since. And on Sunday, he'll actually co-host the show (airing on CTV, Much and several other channels).

Preparing for the production, he was pleasantly surprised by how much creative input he was being granted.

"They're letting me do what I want to do, which I really enjoy" he said. "They're happy to let me improvise."

Of course, the elaborate ornamentation suggested to him at the first MMVAs was never really his thing.

Currently, Sheeran's arena tour is a frill-free hot ticket that positions the ginger Brit at the centre of a mostly empty stage, accompanied by barely any distracting visual tricks.

"I've always played solo," he said.

"The first arenas I played, I was really nervous beforehand. But it went surprisingly well right away, and then each one afterward wasn't as bad."

Sheeran is spending the bulk of June in Canada, and he's certainly made an impression.

Earlier this week, he hopped onstage at West Edmonton Mall to duet with a 13-year-old fan who had been singing his "Thinking Out Loud."

Then Wednesday, he reportedly invited a Saskatoon man onstage to propose to his girlfriend who is suffering from brain cancer. (She said yes.)

The rest of Sheeran's time on the road will be devoted to one purpose: making his third album.

It hasn't been a year since his last, "x," came out and topped charts around the world en route to triple-platinum status in Canada (and roughly six million albums sold around the world).

He's been touring ever since, and given that he can't stop writing, he's learned to be adaptable.

Speaking from Ottawa, he had a makeshift studio assembled around him. Frankly, he sounded restless to return to it.

A vacation certainly didn't hold much appeal.

"Recording," he said of post-tour plans. "That'll be my time off."