6 Collaborations Project two summers ago.ĭec. With that in mind, here’s a rundown of everything he’s been up to since dropping No. He’s done +, x, and ÷, so presumably – is on the way before year’s end. In a note last February on his 30th birthday, Sheeran teased the imminent conclusion of his four-part series of albums named for mathematical functions. The saga of “Sing” suggests that Sheeran’s new album will be a gargantuan hit even if “Bad Habits” flops. And shit man, given the bizarre reverse polarity that makes people gravitate toward most of Sheeran’s worst impulses, maybe this thing will debut at #1 and stay there for the rest of the year. But if it sticks around in any significant capacity its success will be an indictment of us all. To some extent Sheeran is too big to fail, so “Bad Habits” will probably have a strong debut. The sight of Sheeran’s fanged grin will haunt me for years to come even if I never see this video again, and I may well be involuntarily subjected to it many more times.

It’s a stain on legendary video director Dave Meyers’ good name. If you haven’t seen it, it’s so much worse than you’re imagining. Musically, it sucks so bad - some real off-brand Max Martin shit - but who can even think about the music when the “Bad Habits” video involves Sheeran dressed up like a glammy, glittery vampire-droog who decided “I’m going to become the Joker,” soaring over cityscapes and engaging in some light dance choreography while sowing the seeds of urban chaos? I cannot believe anyone likes this. As for the lyrics: “Every time you come around, you know I can’t say no/ Every time the sun goes down, I let you take control.” Is this sung from the perspective of a listening public who simply cannot resist Ed Sheeran music? Written with Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid and FKA twigs collaborator Fred Again, the track is an innocuously thumping pop-R&B monstrosity - like Charlie Puth if he lost a step, or a more whitebread version of the Weeknd’s most craven crossover attempts. The man simply cannot fail, no matter how corny or cringe he allows his music to become.Īnd yet last Friday’s “Bad Habits,” Sheeran’s first proper single since the aforementioned No.6 Collaborations Project, still has me doubting his instincts. He went into full-fledged rap mode alongside Future on Taylor Swift’s “End Game” and on his own ÷ track “Eraser.” By 2019, he released a whole album of collaborations with pop and rap superstars like Justin Bieber and Cardi B, and people seemed to like that too even though (or because) it was the most hollowed out algorithm bait imaginable. He incorporated dancehall and tropical house elements on “Shape Of You,” a song from 2017’s ÷ that spent 12 weeks at #1. That’s the album that gave us “Thinking Out Loud” and “Photograph” and “Don’t,” a stab at rapping that admittedly worked better than “Sing.” I guess he knew what he was doing after all.Īlthough Sheeran built his fan base largely on the strength of his no-frills guitar-and-loop-pedal live show, he has since taken many more steps beyond his open mic night origins. “Sing” itself never really took off, but the album it launched, ×, cemented Sheeran as an absolute superstar.

What is Ed Sheeran thinking? It’s a question I’ve asked myself many times, including in 2014 when the newly ascendant English balladeer announced his intention to make party music with the misbegotten Pharrell collab “Sing.” The new face of the soppy slow jam had called in the zeitgeisty producer of the moment to put chipper dance beats under his acoustic guitar, and the result was so embarrassingly awful that I wondered if dude wasn’t dead set on torpedoing his own career.

Ed sheeran bad habits producer