Duffy, the pop star who recently said she retreated from public life due to a kidnap and rape ordeal, has debuted her first new music since the announcement.

Duffy has made peace. But social media won't let her Read more

The song, Something Beautiful, will not be officially released but was played on Jo Whiley’s BBC Radio 2 show on Thursday night. Duffy accompanied the song with a statement:

You may have read the words I wrote a few weeks back. I feel freer. I wanted to follow it up with a spoken interview but it’s harder than I thought. I’ll follow up in writing soon … It’s just something for you to play people on the radio during these troubling times, if you like the song of course, if it lifts spirits. I don’t plan to release it. I just thought a little something might be nice for people if they’re at home if they’re on lockdown. Loads of love to you.

In February, Duffy posted a message to Instagram – since deleted – in which she said: “I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine.”

She had previously said: “In the following weeks I will be posting a spoken interview. If you have any questions I would like to answer them if I can.”

The Welsh singer had largely been out of the public eye since the release of her second album, Endlessly, in 2010. She had shot to fame in 2008 with her debut, Rockferry, which was the biggest-selling album in the UK that year and also a hit in the US.

Something Beautiful can be heard on BBC Sounds, at the 1h 56m mark in Jo Whiley’s show.