'Bad Habits' video has Ed Sheeran creating his vampire saga
Ed Sheeran's comeback had to be epic and with Bad Habits, it's pretty much that. The English singer goes blond, dons vampire avatar, and produces an upbeat peppy number. Speaking ahead of the release, Sheeran had mentioned he wanted to break his image as the "acoustic singer-songwriter who does ballads." Well, you certainly did that Ed! Here's our review of Bad Habits.
Getting groomed at a parlor, vampire Sheeran is horrifyingly in your face from the beginning. Donning a bright pink suit, dark eye makeup, and razor-sharp fangs, this Sheeran is bold who wants to be seen. The music video features him and his group of vampires wreaking havoc in a locality. At one point, human Sheeran appears, but only to be punctured like a balloon.
An independent story of vampires hunting and flying in the night makes little sense, but it is mostly Sheeran making comparisons with regrets about poor choices made late at night. "My bad habits lead to late nights, endin' alone/Conversations with a stranger I barely know." Notably, the clip, directed by Dave Meyers, was both inspired by the lyrics and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Now coming to the song, Bad Habits is a bass-heavy dance number and thus extensively catchy. Paired with Sheeran's voice, the song is groovy and even hard-core fans of the artist won't mind this change in direction. As far as ditching his iconic ginger hair is concerned, the Photograph singer has already apologized to "all [his] ginger people," vowing "it will never happen again."
While it was "mega fun" for Sheeran to shoot the music video, it is amusingly fresh for first-time viewers. But I can't see myself going back to the video as I've done with, say Perfect or Thinking Out Loud. The song, however, can be immediately dear. Bad Habits is out now! Verdict: Song gets 4/5, while music video gets a three.
