Ed Sheeran became a KATSEYE fan after hearing “Gnarly” during a trip to Mexico, and that unexpected moment quickly turned into a real creative connection. Instead of simply praising the group from a distance, he reached out and suggested writing together. The result was “Animal,” a new KATSEYE single that arrives as the group prepares for its next chapter with the upcoming EP “WILD.”

Ed Sheeran did not enter the KATSEYE story through a carefully planned industry introduction. There was no obvious label meeting, no long public build-up and no campaign designed to connect one of the world’s biggest songwriters with one of pop’s fastest-rising groups. He simply heard “Gnarly” while traveling in Mexico, liked what he heard and decided to make contact himself. That simple chain of events gives “Animal” a very different kind of backstory. In an industry where major collaborations are often arranged months in advance, this one started with something much more familiar: a successful artist discovering a song, becoming curious about the people behind it and wanting to create something with them.

His reaction went much further than a social media post or a quick message of support. Sheeran told KATSEYE that he wanted to write with them. That idea eventually became “Animal,” a track that places him behind the scenes rather than at the center of the release. He is not presented as a guest vocalist whose name is being used to pull extra attention toward the single. His role is in the songwriting, the melody and the structure of the track. For KATSEYE, that difference matters. The song still belongs to the group, while the influence of an experienced pop writer helps shape the material without taking over the identity they have been building.

That balance becomes clearer in behind-the-scenes footage from the writing process. Sheeran can be seen working through melodies, testing vocal ideas and searching for the part of the song that needs to stay in the listener’s head. It is the kind of songwriting process he has become known for throughout his career: finding a simple idea, building a strong hook around it and making the song feel immediate. But “Animal” required a different approach from writing for his own voice. KATSEYE have their own sound, performance style and group chemistry, so the material had to leave room for different personalities instead of sounding like an Ed Sheeran song divided between several singers.

That is one of the biggest challenges when writing for a group. A strong pop song needs to feel like one complete piece, but it also has to give individual members space to stand out. Different tones, different vocal colors and different moments need to work together without making the song feel broken into separate parts. On “Animal,” the final performances from members including Daniela, Lara and Megan help move the song away from the original demo and into the KATSEYE world. The goal was not to preserve Sheeran’s own style exactly. It was to use his songwriting instincts as a starting point and then let the group reshape the track around their own energy.

The fact that the connection began with “Gnarly” is important too. That song became one of the releases that pushed KATSEYE toward a much wider audience and helped introduce their personality to listeners who had not been following them from the beginning. It also gave the group their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. More than a chart moment, though, “Gnarly” worked because it felt confident, slightly chaotic and fully aware of its own attitude. It did not sound like a group trying to fit quietly into the pop landscape. It sounded like a group ready to create a strong reaction, and that seems to be part of what caught Sheeran’s attention.

What Sheeran appears to have responded to was not simply a polished production. He heard a sense of character that could be pushed into another direction. “Animal” continues some of that confidence, but the mood moves into darker and more dramatic territory. Early visuals connected to the song suggest a more controlled, intense world, one that matches the title and the instinctive feeling behind the track. KATSEYE are not simply trying to repeat “Gnarly” with another version of the same idea. They are keeping the boldness while changing the atmosphere around it, which is an important move for a group trying to prove that one hit does not define everything they can do.

That shift matters because the next stage of KATSEYE’s career will depend on range. A viral song can create attention very quickly, but long-term pop careers are built by showing that there is more than one side to the artist. The group have already started to build that case. After “Gnarly” entered the Hot 100, “Gabriela” climbed as high as No. 21, showing that the interest around KATSEYE was not tied to only one release. “Animal” now arrives before “WILD,” the EP scheduled for August 14, and its job is bigger than simply keeping the group visible. It also has to give listeners a clearer sense of what this new era is going to feel like.

For Ed Sheeran, working with KATSEYE also shows how pop influence can move in more than one direction. Younger artists are often described as learning from established names, but that is only part of the picture. New artists can also inspire people who have already spent years at the top of the industry. A song like “Gnarly” can reach someone with Sheeran’s experience and make him curious enough to step into a completely different creative space. That changes the usual idea of how these collaborations are supposed to work. KATSEYE did not need to chase him down for approval. Their music reached him first, and his response was to join the creative process.

There is also something refreshing about the difference between public praise and actual creative involvement. Pop stars support new artists all the time. They repost songs, mention new names in interviews or talk about who they are listening to. Sheeran’s reaction became something more practical. He moved from listener to songwriter. He entered the studio, worked through ideas and helped build a song that the group could then make their own. The support was not just a compliment attached to a famous name. It became part of the work behind the next KATSEYE release.

That fits with the way Sheeran has always treated songwriting as something separate from his own album cycle. His career may be built around his voice and his own catalog, but writing has never been limited to songs he plans to perform himself. He has spent years working with other artists and adapting his instincts to voices that are very different from his. With KATSEYE, the challenge was to create something catchy enough to feel instantly familiar while still leaving space for the group’s style. The best version of that process is one where the songwriter’s experience can be felt without making the final track sound borrowed.

The behind-the-scenes material around “Animal” shows that transformation happening in stages. An idea begins with a melody, then changes as different voices, production choices and performance details are added. By the time the song reaches KATSEYE, the original writing spark has already started moving away from its first form. The group then adds the personality that turns it into a real release rather than just a songwriter demo. That process is one of the most interesting parts of this collaboration because it explains why Sheeran’s name can be important without becoming the main story on the surface of the track.

As “WILD” gets closer, “Animal” will have to stand on its own beyond the story of who helped write it. The song will be measured by whether it can continue KATSEYE’s upward movement, connect with the audience that found them through “Gnarly” and “Gabriela,” and open the door to the sound they want to explore next. Sheeran’s name will naturally attract attention, but the real test is whether the track feels completely at home in the KATSEYE catalog. The collaboration already has one strong detail in its favor: it began because their music was strong enough to turn Ed Sheeran from a casual listener into an active part of what came next.