The long-rumored Cradle Of Filth and Ed Sheeran collaboration has been largely recorded and may very well surface this summer! In an interview with Metal Hammer, Cradle Of Filth frontman Dani Filth reveals that there's only bass and his own vocals left to record before things move on to mixing and mastering.
As for how it'll sound, Filth only said that it'll sound "exactly how you can imagine it'll sound." Filth also said that Sheeran played acoustic guitar on it, and that it'll likely be a single to benefit charity. Which is really nice.
"Ed's done all his parts. It's just bass and vocals for me to do on my return to England after Easter. It's exactly how you can imagine it'll sound, if you can imagine Ed Sheeran with Cradle Of Filth. He plays acoustic guitar on it, but it's heavy; it's got a blast beat in there. The plan is to do it as a charity single. We're hoping for it to be out by the summer."
Filth later elaborated on the recording process, saying that Sheeran didn't make a whole big deal out of things. Which is refreshing to hear, considering some of the insane pomp and circumstance you hear about when it comes to megastars.
"I've spoken to him very regularly over the last two years. Like me, he's a real Suffolk boy. When he came to the studio that day [in December to record his parts], he didn't come down with a cavalcade of reporters: he turned up on his own, guitar on his back, Cradle Of Filth hoodie on, and got on with it. It was fucking great."
The collaboration between the two goes all the way back to 2021, when Filth said in an interview with Kerrang! that he and Sheeran were emailing back and forth. "I've actually been e-mailing with him… He actually touched base with me," said Filth. "I've been invited up to his place. Well, he said he could come down to mine, but I pointed out to him that I don't own my own bar or village, and it'd be better if I went there.
"He said he'd do anything. Quite literally. He said he's a massive fan. He seems like a genuinely very nice guy actually."