BETH McCarthy's March 8 gig at Fibbers marks the release of the York singer-songwriter's debut EP, Self Portrait.

"I’ll be playing a full band show for the first time since the new release has dropped," says Beth, who will be joined by Jason Odle on keyboards and synthesisers and Ed Dennis on drums.

Self Portrait comprises Shame, co-written with Ben Earle from chart-topping country act The Shires; Crazy For You, co-written with Ross Quinn; Wildfire, co-written with Leeds band The Dunwells; Everything, co-written with Lewis Fieldhouse, and Living Up To Me.

"I guess each song is a personal experience of love and how I perceived myself in each of those times, hence the name Self Portrait," says Beth. "In the simplest of explanations: Shame is unrequited love; Crazy For You is new love; Wildfire is unwanted love (almost like the reverse of Shame); Everything is painful love; Living Up To Me is self love."

The EP was recorded and produced by Jason Odle and AG at Ont’ Sofa Studios, The Old Stables, Harrogate, with Shame, Crazy For You and Wildlife already being released as singles.

Beth first came to national attention at the age of 16 in 2014 when more than ten million people watched her "blind audition" on the third series of The Voice.

"The last couple of years have been a big developmental period for me," says Beth, now 21. "I wanted to write as much as possible with as many different people and I actually wrote with Ben [Earle] relatively near the beginning of this period while I was still looking to go down the route of a more country/folk style.

York Press:

Paint job: The artwork for Beth McCarthy's Self Portrait EP

"I played Platform Festival in Pocklington one year right before The Shires, and I knew they’d seen me play, so I actually just emailed Ben and asked if he would be interested in writing together!

"I think he wanted to help me develop, so I went down to his place in London and we wrote two songs, one of which is yet to be released but will be played at the gig next month. It was actually in this session that I discovered the more electronic instrumentation and really the starting point of this huge style departure."

As for The Dunwells, Beth has known the Leeds combo, led by brothers Joseph and David Dunwell, for a long time. "I played a Sofar show (a Sofar Sounds secret gig] with them in York in the midst of this writing period and we agreed that we’d like to write together," she says. "We’ve since had a number of writing sessions together and they’ve co-written four of the songs that will be played in my set on March 8, so I wanted to bring them in to support.

"Both Ben and The Dunwells have had a huge part to play in the discovery and development of my new sound and I feel truly honoured to have had the privilege to write with such talented people."

Beth's Self Portrait will be available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music and buy on iTunes/Amazon. "I'll be selling CDs at the show too; people will also be able to buy these from my website, bethmccarthymusic.com, after the gig," she says.

Doors open at 7pm; tickets cost £8 at ticketweb.uk/event/beth-mccarthy-with-band-ag-fibbers-tickets/9096435 or in person at Fibbers. Support acts will be The Dunwells, Antonio Lulic and Annie Donaghy.