Ed Sheeran is back!
The singer-songwriter is best known for more acoustic, emotional fare, but he’s changed it up with his latest track, Bad Habits. The song is a pure pop transformation, so it only makes sense that the music video would contain a surprising transformation as well, with Ed becoming a glam vampire in the tradition of Edward Cullen (i.e., SPARKLES).
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In a statement, the artist shared:
“Feels great to be back with my new single. I wanted the video for ‘Bad Habits’ to play on the nature of habits in a fantastical way so I decided on vampires. It was mega fun getting into character except for the heights (that wasn’t so fun). Enjoy x”
Ch-ch-check out the video (below):
In an interview with SiriusXM Hits 1 on 1, the Thinking Out Loud crooner spilled the deets on the fresh tune, explaining:
“I always find the songs that are the best to open an album with, as in like first single, have always been like really left of center for me. So like bringing out Shape of You, I was nervous about putting out, cause I was like, ‘oh, this doesn’t really sound like me,’ but then obviously people connected to that song, and then they discovered the album through that. Same with Sing on my second record. And so I was just like, let me just make something, make a few tunes that are just completely different. And this happens to be one of them. And yeah, I’m really excited about it. I’m really excited about it.”
He added:
“I had a first single plan that was a bit more low-fi sad song kind of thing, and in February when we were deciding first singles, Boris Johnson announced that England would be opening up in June, which was when my first single was going to be coming out. And I was like, well, if, if the country’s opening up in June, we should put out Bad Habits because that’s, you know, if the clubs are opening for the first time, you’re going to want to have a club tune, you know.”
Ed also chatted about his biggest transformation yet — fatherhood. The 30-year-old welcomed daughter Lyra Antarctica with wife Cherry Seaborn in September of 2020 amid a hiatus from social media and music. He reflected that the baby has required him to change some old habits:
“I’m very structured with my day now. So like usually if I was in the studio, I would just kind of work until it was done, whereas now, like, I did a recording session and I was in Los Angeles the other day, and, you know, producers and writers and artists are usually like, they kind of get to the studio at like 1:00 PM, maybe 2:00, maybe 6:00 PM, and they just kind of work into the night. But I was like, with the guy I was working with, I was like, ‘I’m going to be there at 9:00 AM, and I’m going to leave at 5:00 PM, and just come in any time between that.’ Cause like, I feel like with a kid, you need a structured work day.”
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But he also added:
“It is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I think there’s so many, there’s so many different sides and shades to it. You know, there’s difficult days, there’s amazing, easy days. It’s just a roller coaster of emotions. I know that sounds like a cliché thing to say, but it’s amazing. I love it.”
So sweet! We can’t wait to hear how this major life change has influenced the album. As far as Bad Habits goes, it sounds like the kind of partying a new dad might not get up to anymore. But seeing as how he returns to the guitar-strumming Ed we know and love by the end of the video, we think there’s a good chance of fatherly introspection to come!
[Image via Ed Sheeran/YouTube]