Dolly Ave’s new single Play Fair moves with a certain tenderness. It quivers with the desire to gently disengage from someone whose feelings you care about, a tenderness that exists despite the fact another person no longer represents your future. The vocal itself surfaces a series of questions and requests of an ex-lover, the song’s title seemingly an instruction Dolly herself, as much as the song’s subject.
Originally written in Chicago, Play Fair ended up sitting untouched and unfinished for a year. Initially unable to finish the song, it was only in California with producer Ciayo’s decision to incorporate hip hop elements that it evolved into what we hear now. The slow, brooding percussion and bass give the song a cautious atmosphere that struck me as suiting the song’s subject.
Dolly creates music that focuses on personal subject matters whilst leveraging a sound that blends pop, R&B, soul and electronic. Play Fair follows on from her debut single Birds and a collaboration with rapper Charlie Curtis-Beard that trended on TikTok this year. She is currently preparing to release her debut EP, Sleep.