Ed Sheeran Cradle of Filth

Photo Credit: Dani Filth for The Downbeat Podcast

Cradle of Filth’s Dani Filth talks about a collaboration with Ed Sheeran, but the track won’t appear on the group’s latest album. So when will it drop?

Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth has been running the metal press circuit, with interviews leading up to the April release of the band’s new album, The Screaming of the Valkyries. And he’s been talking about a new track with Ed Sheeran — but it won’t be on the album.

“The Ed Sheeran [song] is done and dusted,” Dani Filth tells The Downbeat Podcast, explaining the single is “a bit about self-affirmation.”

“We did it like two years ago. It was weird, because we were planning to do it for about a year and a half,” he continues. “We didn’t wanna release it back then because we were busy with other things. Then he couldn’t release it because he was doing a bunch of stuff. So it’s just gonna come out when it does. We didn’t wanna put it on the album.”

When asked by Metal Hammer why the song wouldn’t appear in the forthcoming album, Dani Filth said they didn’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 fucking fantastic. But only a handful of people have actually heard it. My mum hasn’t even heard it.”

Dani described the song as, quite literally, “a cross between Ed Sheeran and Cradle of Filth.”

“You hear it and go, ‘Oh my God, fuck me, acoustic guitar, that’s Ed Sheeran.’ Then at the same time, you can flip the coin and go, ‘Fuck me, this is a Cradle of Filth song: blastbeat, Dani screaming.’ Obviously, he wouldn’t put his name to a technical death metal track and we wouldn’t put our name on a song that sounded like ‘Galway Girl’ part two. It’s catchy, though. It’s a good marriage.”

Cradle of Filth’s The Screaming of the Valkyries is expected to come out in April, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a while longer for the mysterious Ed Sheeran collaboration track.