Eleni Drake casts off a scumbag with dreamy, candid R&B number "4"

Equal parts feisty and laidback, "4" sees Drake divert somewhat from her established guitar&B sound, leaning more heavily towards the R&B end of the spectrum. It's a stunningly well-realised track on which Drake makes her growth – both emotionally and sonically – 100% clear for everyone listening. She delivers a fluid yet determined vocal, effortlessly holding court at the centre of a strikingly minimal arrangement that blooms with delicate keys.

"Following the Blue EP, this song is about the same person, but I’ve realised a few more things about the person who I once loved," she explains of the track. "I've come to the realisation that they are a nasty person, despite me painting them to be once such a lovely force in my life in the Blue era. After the love bubble had disappeared, I realised what my friends meant when they said that person was actually 'scum', and how delusional I was to even get into a relationship with this person in the first place."

"It ends with a slightly optimistic note," Drake continues, 'singing 'now the sun is shining for me / skin dipped in honey all for me'. Any ordinary human is happy once the sun is out, also meaning that since the relationship is over, I see the sun more often, and although honey is sweet, and tends to be seen a nice terminology, I meant it as they’re drowning in their own falsities. How I once portrayed them to be this sweet, caring person, they are now submerged in their own lies and it’s difficult for them to get out."

"4" arrives ahead of Drake's new record, Songs On Sundays, a six-track EP out 29 March. The project channels soul influences both classic and current, with Drake exploring a more trip-hop sound than that of previous releases.