Ed Sheeran’s ‘Bad Habits’ music video was inspired by ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’

Ed Sheeran is back and better than ever after his little break from music. He released his new single “Bad Habits” on Friday, alongside the song's accompanying music video that gives us all the vampire vibes.

"But bad habits lead to late nights, ending alone / Conversations with a stranger I barely know," Sheeran sings on the upbeat track. "Swearing this will be the last but it probably won't / I got nothing left to lose, or use, or do."

He's seen as an alter-ego vampire in the music video, wearing a lighter hair colour, having fangs for teeth and showing off some of our own vices.

The song marks Sheeran's first official release since his 2019 No. 6 Collaborations project with songs like "I Don't Care" featuring Justin Bieber, "Beautiful People" with Khalid and "Blow" with Bruno Mars and Chris Stapleton.

He told Etalk’s Danielle Graham all about what it feels like when he knows he's going to be releasing new music into the world.

Sheeran said the only feeling comparable to releasing new music is “the nerves you have when you go in to do a school exam.”

“You kind of got this like grumbly feeling in your stomach but you know that when you’re in there, it’s go, go, go, go, go and you’re prepared and you’re ready for it. But your kind of standing outside the school like, 'Ou, I don’t know how I’m going to do here.’”

WATCH: Etalk's full interview with Ed Sheeran

[video_embed id='2230004']Ed Sheeran EXT interview [/video_embed]

Sheeran said that his new single is “basically new sounds” but shared that his album “isn’t really” like the single.

“This is the first single off the album and I wanted — when I did “Sing” off X and then “Shape of You” off ÷, it was always like you kind of put out a song you don’t really know how people are going to take it. I know that my fanbase when “Shape of You” came out were like, ‘What’s this! This isn’t the Ed we know.’ But if you don’t take left turns every now and then you never progress,” he said.

The 30-year-old singer has quite a look going on in his music video for "Bad Habits," featuring some fangs, long nails and intense eye makeup.

"The song is called 'Bad Habits' and I feel like most bad habits come out when the sun goes down on a Friday night. You start off with one beer and then it goes to another beer and then tequilas and then smoking and then you go to a fast-food restaurant. It just kind of goes on and on and on. So I thought for the music video I'd want to do something within the vein of bad habits. I feel when the sun goes down, vampires come out," the "Castle on the Hill" singer shared.

Sheeran said that he considers himself "a huge" Buffy The Vampire Slayer fan. 

"It was on the BBC for all of my childhood. It was The Simpsons, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and then Buffy The Vampire Slayer and then Malcolm in the Middle...so I watched it like every night of the week," Sheeran said, adding that he's "always wanted to make a vampire video."

Leading up to the "Bad Habits" drop, Sheeran shared a photo of himself on Instagram with the caption, "The moment you realise your first solo single in 4 years is coming out in a few weeks." He revealed everything that was going through his mind when he shared the hilarious photo.

"That was in quarantine. I went over to Australia for a friend's funeral and that was just in quarantine. My wife took it and then she sent it to me. I don't know why she sent it to me but I was like, 'This picture is really weird. I'm going to post it.' I'm, like, so not Internet savvy anymore," Sheeran explained.

"When I came up, Twitter was the thing. I was 19 and 20 on Twitter and I was just throwing out tweets every now and then. Now it's kind of like TikTok and Instagram. I'm just not plugged into it enough so I have to get nudged to post pictures," he added.

He also revealed that ending his tour and having a daughter have been major forces that fully changed his life. 

“I finished the tour and then I didn’t really know what to do with myself because all I know is tour and all I know is work. I just tried to find hobbies for the first time. I started painting,” Sheeran said as he showed off one of his pieces behind him.

“I became a dad, which is a pretty seismic change in my life so that’s been amazing. Other than that, just kind of chipping away at the album bit by bit. It finally feels done,” he added.

Sheeran revealed that he “kind of only wants” daughters now after welcoming his baby girl, Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran, in September 2020.

The "Thinking Out Loud" singer added that as soon as he became a dad, he thought he should get rid of some of his bad habits.

"I go to bed at 9 now. I go to bed at 9 p.m.," Sheeran revealed.

The singer's been known to drop out of the public eye and go off the grid to spend some time recharging and getting inspiration for his music.

"I feel like my professional life is a lot of touring and a lot of interviews and a lot of recording and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You don't really experience anything to write the songs about. So I was coming to the end of the last tour, trying to write songs but what do you write about? Like hotel rooms, planes, stages?" Sheeran said.

"I think to be an artist you actually have to experience life. In this last year and a bit, I've experienced grief for the very first time in my life, like proper, proper grief for the very first time in my life. I've become a father, I've built a home and a marriage. I've had friends who've had moms pass away that you're then there to shoulder your friend. I feel like I've experienced enough of life now in this past two years to write an album that actually has meaning rather than just writing an album for the sake of it."

Sheeran joins Etalk for Etalk Open House, the series that features performances and exclusive interviews with incredible talent like The Killers, Jessie Reyez, Shaggy, Niall Horan, Shawn Mendes and more. Catch Sheeran's Etalk Open House on Friday night as part of Etalk’s regular broadcast at 7 p.m. ET on CTV  and 7:30 p.m. on CTV2.