Ed Sheeran channels a kind of vampire Joker in the video for his new electronic single ‘Bad Habits’; a song taken from his forthcoming album ‘Minus (-)’ which is set for release later this year through Asylum records.
Directed by Dave Meyers, the video sees Ed in a pink suit and full vampire face as he hangs out in the streets with his pointy-toothed pals.
It was written alongside previous collaborators Fred Again and Snow Patrol‘s Johnny McDaid, and marks his first new material since 2020’s ‘Afterglow’, which was an (in his opinion) unsuccessful attempt to reflect his earlier sound.
‘Minus’ will follow 2017’s ‘Divide’, but comes just a couple of years since he dropped his 2019 EP ‘No.6 Collaborations Project’.
“I wrote this song in January when I'd sort of finished the album,” he told BBC Radio 1. "And it had no songs on there that would surprise people… I wanted to go in the studio and make something that was totally different. I spent a month and just made lots of mad tunes - and this was one of the mad ones.”
His decision to involve vampires in the video was based on a love of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and a desire to add a fantasy flavour. Though he wasn’t particularly keen on the flying.
“I wanted the video for ‘Bad Habits’ to play on the nature of habits in a fantastical way, so I decided on vampires”, he added. “It was mega fun getting into character, except for the heights. That wasn't so fun.”