It takes a very specific kind of singer to duet with John Legend and hold their own, but that’s exactly what Laura Welsh does on “Hardest Part.” Comparisons to Jessie Ware are inevitable, because Welsh has the same impossibly plush, airy tone in her voice, but when Ware gets husky, Welsh goes light and delicate. She spars with Legend on the track, demurring while he flexes vocal acrobatics, but bursts back in later with a feathery run of her own. The British singer has been bubbling just under the surface for years now, and her voice has caught the ear of producers like Dev Hynes and Robin Hannibal of Rhye, who worked with her back in 2013 on “Unravel” and “Cold Front,” respectively. Last year she followed a similar holding pattern, releasing only “Break The Fall” and “Ghosts,” along with a huge feature on Gorgon City’s “Here For You.” But it looks like she’s finally lasered in on her solo material and we’ll get her full-length in a few months. Stream the duet below.

Soft Confrol will be out on 3/9 via Outsiders/Polydor Records in the UK and Island Records in the US.