March Fry finds the sting behind the smile on new single ‘Selfish’

March Fry understands that the most painful conversations aren't always defined by what is said. Sometimes it's the tone, the timing or the complete absence of tenderness that lingers afterwards. And it's in that uncomfortable space that gives ‘Selfish’ its emotional pull, as the London singer, musician and producer contrasts difficult truths with a deceptively playful musical frame.

The second track to emerge from forthcoming debut album 'In No Time', ‘Selfish’ introduces her as a songwriter particularly interested in emotional detail. Its lighter, almost youthful character sits deliberately at odds with the subject underneath, creating a tension that gives the song far more depth than its surface initially suggests.

Throughout the release, she considers the responsibility that comes with telling someone what they may not want to hear. Truth can be necessary, but ‘Selfish’ questions whether necessity excuses cruelty, and whether being right matters quite as much when compassion has been removed from the equation.

Musically, it sits comfortably between neo-soul, indie-pop, bedroom pop and contemporary R&B. The warmth associated with Olivia Dean and Pip Millett provides a useful reference point, while the soulful instincts of Erykah Badu can be felt in the way feeling and phrasing are allowed to lead.

That combination of humour, vulnerability and emotional sharpness looks set to become important to 'In No Time'. The wider album explores growing older, releasing what no longer serves you and gradually returning to a clearer version of yourself, and ‘Selfish’ captures one of the difficult conversations that can accompany that process.

Warm on the outside and considerably sharper underneath, ‘Selfish’ is an impressive glimpse of March Fry’s debut record. It takes an everyday emotional wound and examines why it hurt in the first place, proving that sometimes the way something is said becomes the part we remember longest.