Rochdale's Morgan Harper-Jones navigates the pitfalls of modern dating on “Lie To Me”

Having conjured the likes of Cat Power, Joni Mitchell and Laura Marling on her debut single “Breathe” last month, singer-songwriter Morgan Harper-Jones goes one further on the wonderfully-woven “Lie To Me”.

Unravelling via a stream of digitally harmonised vocals and masterfully wistful acoustic guitar patterns, the song makes for a real feat of gossamer restraint. Reflecting on how, in the 23-year-old’s words, “modern dating can be weird and complicated,” craft and candour run parallel with a voice that demands to be heard from the outset. It's something that comes into sharp focus when patterns coalesce and crest into full-band splendour.

“I wrote this with my friend Rob [Milton],” Harper-Jones says. “We both decided we wanted to write a song that was mostly carried by a vocal and vocoder. I was literally ranting to him about my love life when the chorus lyric was written. The majority of the lyrics came out very naturally and conversationally and stuck.”

Harper-Jones adds a top tip for songwriters: “Avoid sending a song you wrote about someone to that same person as a means to convey your emotions because it’s creepy and weird.”