It’s time to admit that Ed Sheeran can do whatever the hell he wants to do and make it sound great. Whether he wants to go full pop-punk or keep peddling wedding songs, everyone’s favorite British muppet is going to kill it. He played his new song “Shape Of You” all by himself on the Grammys stage, but thanks to some loop pedals, Sheeran made the trop-pop track sound huge.
Sheeran looped his own vocals, guitar and other instruments while he flexed his best Michael-Jackson-via-Abel-Tesfaye come-ons (and “shamones”). The guy behind the schmaltziest song in recent memory shouldn’t be able to sell “I’m in love with your body” this well, but here we are. Nothing about the performance should have worked. It had a world’s biggest open-mic vibe, Sheeran and his gear being dwarfed by the stage and audience around him. But he sold it on sheer charisma and — let’s be real — a whole lot of talent.
While the Grammys is typically about celebrating the songs we’ve already lived with for a year or so, a good chunk of the viewing audience will spend the rest of the night running back “Shape Of You” on their own internal loops. Check it out up top.
