The song might be a holiday classic in his native U.K., but Ed Sheeran still upped his cool factor significantly by choosing to cover the Pogues’ 1988 Christmas-themed perennial “Fairytale of New York” with singer Anne-Marie for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. He also performed his current hit single “Perfect.” (Watch both videos below.)

He didn’t do it by half, either: The pair are accompanied by traditional Irish musicians on violin, piano and percussion, and while Sheeran’s voice doesn’t approach Shane McGowan’s craggy slur (hear the original here), he wisely doesn’t try to approximate it and delivers it straight. Anne-Marie sings the late Kirsty MacColl’s part with signature sass and passion. (TBH we could have lived without the rendition of “Jingle Bells” they tacked onto the last minute of the song.)

Anne-Marie opened for Sheeran on a recent European tour and appears on her forthcoming album as well. “We’ve actually done a song together, which is going to be on my album,” she told NME. “We’ve been friends for nearly 10 years now, so we’ve always wanted to work with each other, and obviously he’s always out of the country and I’m always out of the country. So one time we were both in London and we just got in the studio and we did this song. We want work with each other more definitely – it’s just the time.”

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