Song You Need: Debby Friday’s “So Hard To Tell” offers a safe landing

The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.

Anyone who came to Debby Friday via her 2021 singles "Runnin" or "Focus" would be forgiven for wondering if "So Hard To Tell" is the same artist they previously heard. Those songs, abrasive and boldly confident, worked hard and kept the listener at a safe distance with Friday's mechanical self-produced beats acting as an icy backdrop to her impressive raps. "So Hard To Tell" offers up a radically softer side to the Toronto-based artist as she veers into feather-lite R&B territory. The result is a more grounded and vulnerable side to her music that shows a new side to her personality.

Themes of loneliness and a need for some emotional support take center stage on this new single, which will feature on her debut album Good Luck when it drops via Sub Pop on March 24. "You're just a young girl, all alone by yourself" she sings over a vocal sample and drums that snap shut like the door at the end of a long day. Friday appears to be parenting herself in the lyrics, wiping away tears and offering up heartfelt advice about how "big girls don't cry." These themes are mirrored in the accompanying video, which juxtaposes a semi-naked Friday with scenes of her clad in armor and wielding a sword. It seems she has chosen to lower the shield here, ushering in a more open and human sound. It suits her.