Justin Bieber & Ed Sheeran’s I Don’t Care is a clever, strategised tune – and it’s going to work
- I Don’t Care was designed to be played at barbecues and pool parties from now until September, and it most definitely will be
- It is a virtual redo of Sheeran’s once-inescapable Shape of You, complete with rapid-fire vocals in the verses and a vaguely tropical beat
Say hello to Jed Shieber, everyone, and get used to him – he’s sure to be here for a very long while.
We speak, of course, of the bromantic union of Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran, who after collaborating behind the scenes on two recent pop smashes – Bieber’s Love Yourself in 2015 and Major Lazer’s Cold Water in 2016 – have finally joined voices for the new single I Don’t Care.
For both stars, the song represents a return to the spotlight after some time away – time in which Shawn Mendes has made himself a nice little sweet spot between Sheeran’s folky songwriter-isms and Bieber’s post-EDM balladry.
But I Don’t Care is also clearly the duo’s stab at creating the song of the summer – it was designed to be played at barbecues and pool parties from now until September. Surrender now: it most definitely will be.
Clever as always, Sheeran wrote the tune – and let’s establish that this feels like Sheeran featuring Bieber, not the other way around – about feeling out of place at just such a gathering.