Sony Music Entertainment
Release Date: December 1st 2023
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Sam Fischer– I Love You, Please Don’t Hate Me (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- I Love You, Please Don’t Hate Me
- Afterglow
- Hopeless Romantic
- This City
- What Other People Say (feat. Demi Lovato)
- You Don’t Call Me Anymore
- Landslide
- Iceberg
- Hard to Love
- Watching My World Fall Apart
- Alright (feat. Meghan Trainor)
- High On You (feat. Amy Shark)
- Secondhand Happiness
- Somebody Cares
- Carry It Well
Guy Sebastian has always been someone that seems to be a down-to-earth person. After winning Australian Idol back in 2003, the pop singer has released a steady stream of albums and hit singles, culminating in the release of T.R.U.T.H. in 2020 in the middle of COVID-19. We blogged about Guy a number of years ago and we also reviewed his most recent album. Everything that Jon has mentioned about Guy is something that I agree with. This is only from observation from interviews, but he seems to be a relaxed guy and someone who is level-headed- and that is someone rare in the music industry. I’m guessing that it’s time for another album from Guy soon (because perhaps 3-4 years between albums is a big on the long-ish side!), but until such a time as when Guy unveils another album, here we are with the brand new single of “Antidote”, and inspirational/quasi-worship song sung with fellow Aussie artist Sam Fischer. And as we’ve already reviewed “Antidote”, what else could we be ‘reviewing’? Actually, Sam’s debut album I Love You, Please Don’t Hate Me recently released (in December 2023), and so, do you reckon it’s time to see how this album fares and resonates with all of us?
If you want to know more about Sam, read his extensive biography on his website or on Wikipedia. But in listening to these 15 songs, I’ve felt that I personally don’t need to know much about Sam to know that it’s an incredible singer and that this album is probably one of the best and most vulnerable of 2023. The title track starts and anchors the album, in that this piano driven melody speaks in depth about insecurities and about feeling unworthy of love. With Sam (or the persona) outlining that he is waiting for the other shoe to drop in that he thinks that friends and family will desert him at a moment’s notice; this song speaks to the core of who we are. we all want to be loved, accepted, known and seen, and this song recognises this fact and assures us that in our own community, with our friends and true family, that mothing we could ever say or do can keep us from the love of those who truly care for us. And that is Jesus Christ included- and so, for this track to be the first one is pretty cool and profound and lyrically sets the tone for the rest of the album.
If you thought this melody was confessional- then you’ll be in for a treat as there are many more inspiring, vulnerable, and encouraging songs present on this release. “Afterglow”, a dance/pop number, is a Coldplay-like melody that describes a spiritual like experience and awakening where Sam shakes off his worries and his anxiety, and surrenders himself to the process of songwriting no matter which way it comes to him; while “Hopeless Romantic” is a confessional electric guitar led ballad whereby Sam outlines that he is jealous of everyone else’s success, and that he longs to have an experience like that: I had romanticized the process of making an album, being an artist, and everything that comes along with it,” Fischer says. “You see these documentaries with Ed Sheeran or Billie Eilish where they have one person they work with, and they spent three magical months together creating this gorgeous project together in this big house and they’re all so in love with each other and the songs at the end of the process Now don’t get me wrong, I really wanted that experience and I didn’t understand why is this wasn’t my experience. It seems everyone around me is living out the dreams I’ve always dreamt and my dream is so far from reality. “This City”, the song that actually made Sam famous in 2018, is included on this project, and is a homage to the city of L.A., which is pretty unforgiving and unrelenting in the fact that sometimes you can romanticise the idea of gaining success in a certain city, and most times, it doesn’t happen. While “What Other People Say” is driven by the piano and light acoustic guitar, and we are presented with a heartfelt, emotional and much needed reflective ballad, with both Demi Lovato and Sam singing in perfect harmony, and with real emotion that brings chills down my spine. With Demi referencing her drug overdose in the chorus, and highlighting the notion that we all can be caught up in other people’s opinions of us so much so that we lose sight of who we are, as ‘…I used to not take chances with God’s name, but it’s been so long since I last prayed, and now I’m all f***ed up and my heart’s changed, ’cause I care more about what other people say…’, we are confronted with the reality that we all can lose our way and we can all become people we don’t want to be all for the sake of fitting in, and for the sake of peer pressure. Letting people’s opinions about us affect us on a deep level isn’t what should happen. But as it does sometimes, this confessional and prayer of sorts, reminds us that it’s not too late to change, it’s not too late to ask for help, and it’s not too late to be a better person that you once were. It’s not to late to pray to God and it’s not too late to push aside negative comments and not let them affect us.
“You Don’t Call Me Anymore”, a reality-checking and emotional track about losing touch with a friend or a loved one, speaks about the passage of time and about how we should always be intentional about our friendships and relationships if we want to keep them- You Don’t Call Me Anymore is a song for anyone who’s lost someone they had no idea they were losing. Whether it’s falling out of love, fading out of friendship, or grieving the passing of a loved one. It’s the realization that they’re not there anymore and there’s no rhyme or reason to it, nothing happened, they’re just not around. It hurts, it sucks but it’s human and everyone will feel it at some point in their lives, so when they do, at least they’ll have this song to find some comfort in. “Landslide”, on the flipside, is a powerful and sweet love song about Sam singing to his wife and outlining that their love is like a landslide- it’s a beautifully sung track that breaks up the heaviness of the album quite nicely; while we are brought back into the ‘darkness’ with “Iceberg”, an acoustic guitar led song about trying to live with anxious thoughts and mental health issues, and living with the thoughts that are too hard to bear.
“Hard To Love”, a piano ballad, is an album standout, with this semi-prayer to God a track that is a confessional, with Sam outlining that he is incredibly hard to love because of a myriad of reasons, and that he needs people and God not to give up on him, simply because of how he is perceived. “Watching My World Fall Apart” is a heartbreaking and hard-hitting track about the beginning of a break-up (presumably inspired by someone else, as from what I can tell, Sam is still married to his wife!); while Sam duets with Meghan Trainor on the poppy and bubbly melody “Alright” where the duo purposefully and passionately outline the fact that sometimes feeling alright and being content and satisfied is more to do with your mindset than possessing monetary wealth and material gain.
“High On You”, a tender and sweet love song, is sung with Amy Shark, and details the solid relationship between two people who know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they’re good for each other and that they complement each other in every way possible; while “Secondhand Happiness” is a bittersweet melody, with the persona concluding that they can’t be with their ex, and them simultaneously being happy for their ex in the new relationship with someone new. The penultimate song on I Love You, Please Don’t Hate Me, is “Somebody Cares”, whereby Sam outlines further mental health struggles to the point of suicidal thoughts, and the conclusion that he longs to be somebody that someone cares about; while we’re further treated to the inner workings of Sam’s mind in the album closer “Carry It Well”, where Sam reveals that he’s still hurting, and that ‘…just because I carry it well, doesn’t mean it isn’t heavy and I don’t need some help, I know I keep it locked down, but all I want now is somebody who can tell me how it’s gonna turn out, ’cause I thought I’d be doing better by now…’: for whatever reason, I seem to be someone people feel comfortable telling their problems to, and I really do love that, but I don’t really ever get asked how I’m doing. Carry It Well”, is about saying yeah I’m fine, when asked if you are, even when you’re not. You never know what someone might be going through. I think if the past few years have taught us anything, it’s how to mask what we can’t describe while feeling intensely what we don’t understand. I hope ‘Carry It Well’ can just let people know they’re not alone.
I don’t think I’ve ever been this impacted and inspired and encouraged by a debut album ever since Anne Wilson’s My Jesus back in 2022. So kudos to Sam Fischer and his 15 melodies of personal stories from his soul. Some are romantic love songs, some are heartbreak songs, and some are songs about loneliness and isolation and mental health. For a debut album, this release is personal to the max; and I think I may just be a fan now. I Love You, Please Don’t Hate Me isn’t for the faint of hearted. And so, shall we say, listen to this album pronto, because I’m positive you will learn something from it and you’ll be amazed by one of the most hopeful and thought-provoking singers out there right now? Well done Sam, I can’t wait to hear what’s in store for you next!
5 songs to listen to: Afterglow, What Other People Say, Hard to Love, Somebody Cares, Carry It Well
Score: 5/5
RIYL: Guy Sebastian, Delta Goodrem, Demi Lovato, Amy Shark, Missy Higgins, Meghan Trainor, Dua Lipa, Ricki-Lee