Following an onstage collaboration at the Brit Awards, Ed Sheeran and Bring Me the Horizon have released a studio version of their heavier take on Sheeran’s smash hit “Bad Habits.”
Sheeran and Bring Me the Horizon performed the song together last week during the Brits, the UK’s equivalent of the Grammys, with BMTH adding a metalcore flavor to the pop superstar’s No. 1 single. Sheeran and BMTH singer Oli Sykes traded verses, with the band adding some heavy breakdowns, leading up to Sykes’ screams at the very end.
The studio version reproduces the same arrangement while adding some polish to the finished product. For Bring Me the Horizon, the collaboration with Sheeran isn’t as surprising as it may seem. The band has moved away from its deathcore and metalcore sound in recent years, embracing a more pop aesthetic on recent albums.
Regarding the collaboration, Sykes stated, “From receiving the email asking whether we’d like to open the brits with Ed Sheeran to us chatting and bouncing ideas to rehearsing and then performing and now releasing, this has needless to say been pretty mental. But we are all about pushing the boundaries of our own and other genres, so this felt like the perfect challenge.”
Sheeran added, “I really enjoyed the show last week and I think people will really like the new version. Excited to get it out.”
For Sheeran, it marked a chance to dabble in a bit of metal, as the pop singer has expressed a love for the genre in the past. In fact, he has also been in conversation with Cradle of Filth’s Dani Filth about a collaboration. The Cradle of Filth singer recently caught up with Heavy Consequence, telling us the pair are “currently looking at some options.” (See the video interview above.)
Check out the studio version and the live Brit Awards performance of “Bad Habits” below.
