Ed Sheeran has unveiled a dramatic new look as he promotes his new track Azizam, which is lead single from his upcoming eighth studio album, Play. The Halifax born star is famous for his flame-haired locks but he has traded them in for a more gothic look. The 34-year-old took to his Instagram to share a series of images from his promotional week for the record including the dramatic new image.

Sporting jet black hair he looked moody as he peered out from underneath a long fringe while sporting a grey beanie and huge black sunglasses, with a new silver lip ring adorning his mouth. In his caption he said: "Genuinely had a MySpace photo like this when I was 14." A second mirror selfie showed the image change extended to his entire outfit. He showcased a pair of black bondage pants with a black T-shirt and matching black hoodie on top.

While he admitted the lip piercing wasn't real he admitted he might get one. "Fake lip piercing but might just do it yolo."

"Emo Ed is literally my favourite Ed, pls make this become a real thing for at least one music video," one fan pleaded

A second chimed in: "Emo Sheeran wasn't on my bingo card today but slay."

A third confessed the look gave them a fright writing: "I love you but this was almost a jump scare."

Azizam, which fuses Persian music with the singer's trademark pure pop sound, is on track to to become the highest new chart entry of the week in the UK. It takes its name from the Persian word for "my dear", and was written by Ed as a “celebratory” song.

However TikTok music critic The Swiftologist branded the song “soulless”, claiming “all of Ed's songs are good in the way that heroin is good for people. It’s addictive in a way that’s not supposed to be good for the human brain.

“‘Shivers, Bad Habits and Shape of You are all the same song [as Azizam], and they’re all so f****** annoying,” he ranted in a two and a half minute video. “There has been no evolution from 2016. I feel like I’m going crazy. I’ll never get these two minutes of my life back. He’s terrorising the music industry, we should punish him,” he concluded.

In response, Ed simply wrote "lol"in the comments. The Swiftologist replied: “King I’m so sorry. But we need to come up with something else.”