Yeh he needs a break and hopefully return fresh next year! Be an interesting release to see if he can command hits again with a pop album!

It's weird to think that this thread will be about 3 bloody years old by the time it does release though :lol:

Hope it’s worth the wait

Update on this in a couple of new interviews to promote Cradle of Filth's new album (which this song isn't on...):

 

Speaking to the outlet, Filth explained why the Sheeran collab will not be on the album and said: “No, because we don’t want it to overshadow the record. But we are going to bring it out. Originally, everybody wanted us to bring it out to glorious fanfare but Ed’s management weren’t keen on that.

 

“We’re not absolutely sure how it will emerge, but it’s been done, mixed and it’s sitting on the shelf somewhere… you know, virtually. And it’s f***ing fantastic. But only a handful of people have actually heard it. My mum hasn’t even heard it.”

Dani Filth: With the Ed Sheeran collab, it’s done and dusted. We did it like two years ago. It was weird because we were planning to do it for about a year and a half.

Craig Reynolds: How’d that come about?

 

Dani Filth: I don’t know. I think our managers got in touch with each other somehow. His manager, Stuart, used to listen to Coal Chamber when he was growing up. And Ed - he said he once did a vampire thing on a single where he played a vampire.

 

He then got asked somewhere if he was into heavy metal. I don’t know why, but he said, "Yeah, I was really into Slipknot and Cradle of Filth.” There was this story about how he was going to come and do his apprenticeship at our studio, like a school thing. But we decided not to do it. The truth is, we weren’t recording an album there at all. We were just rehearsing, but the guy kept telling everyone we were, to get his studio some money.

 

Apparently, whether Ed decided not to do it or the vacancy wasn’t open, he went to work at the local council—Ipswich Borough Council and he had such a s**t time that he decided, “No, I’m going to pursue my own music.”

 

So, apparently, they talked, and the chat came around about doing a collab. It’d be hilarious. And he was like, right up for it. When he was eventually free, and we were free, he just came to the studio by himself. He didn’t even ask, like, “Are you going to be there with your moms and everything?” So, we were very respectful. It was just me, the producer, and him in our countryside studio - probably 15 miles away, as the crow flies, from where he lives. He turned up in his wife’s secret Mini—the one he can sneak out of the house in - on his own. Cradle hoodie, a guitar on his back. That was it.

 

We spent the afternoon recording. He told us loads of funny stories - just really laid-back, really cool. And when he finished, we asked, “Do you want to go for a pint?” He said, “Well, I’m a bit peckish.” So, we went to the local pub. At that point, everyone in the pub - it’s this very rustic, old country pub - suddenly flocked to him. All these old dears, like his mom’s friends or something, flocked over to say hello. And he was like, “I have no idea who that is.”

 

The song is great. We didn’t want to release it back then because we were busy with other things. Then he couldn’t release it because he was busy with his own stuff. It’s a brand-new Cradle of Filth song featuring Ed Sheeran. A lot of it sounds like Ed - he’s playing acoustic guitar, he’s singing. But a lot of it sounds like us too. It’s got blast beats, screams—it’s full-on. Ed really pushes himself in it too. He doesn’t do screams, but he does rock vocals.

 

Craig Reynolds: What are the lyrics about?

 

Dani Filth: I can’t talk about it. I’ll get in trouble. But it’s about self-affirmation. It works. It’s a really good song. Only a handful of people have heard it. My mom hasn’t even heard it. So anyway, that’ll come out as and when.