TikTok has ultimately become the perfect soundboard for artists to test unreleased songs with audiences and see if they translate. Jack Gray has joined the growing list of artists who have had a viral song through the app before it was even finished. With ‘Selfish’ receiving over 500k cumulative views in its first week, the multi-talented singer, songwriter, and producer quickly put the final touches on the song to release in time for Valentines Day.
The honest love song is all about the reality of relationships that run their path and go wrong. Holding on because he’s scared of hurting someone, he questions if he is selfish when he knows deep down that the right thing to do is let go. “Growing distant you could tell. I hate sleeping by myself. Is it selfish? I can’t help it” he sings during the honest chorus before later adding “Scarеd to let go of what’s already gone. Passion is еverything until it’s not”. It’s a feeling that so many people can relate to as we all put love on this big pedestal that it becomes so terrifying when your faced with the idea that it may not be working and you have to start all over again. No one wants to be lonely and heartbroken, and that’s just a fact.
Keeping the lyrics and raw emotion at the centre of this personal unravelling, the production is completely stripped back to just him and an acoustic guitar. It’s a return to the beginning of this whole journey as that’s how and why you originally fell in love with him. He knows how to deliver a vulnerable storytelling that pulls you in, and has you feeling every bit of the emotion with him. And that’s what has happened with ‘Selfish’. You’ll listen once and be drawn into this melodic world of reflection that you’ll keep pressing replay on.