Sam Fischer announced the name of his forthcoming album at an intimate gig in Sydney this week at The Vanguard.
He told the enraptured crowd that the album, out later this year, will be called I Love You, Please Don’t Hate Me.
The Australian artist is currently riding high after collaborations with the likes of Amy Shark and Demi Lovato, but used his special one-off gig in Newtown to tell the room about his traumas, triumphs and transformations over the past decade.
“L.A. [Los Angeles] is a bitch man,” he told the crowd. “I’ve been signed and I’ve been dropped. I’ve been abused in the music industry… Turns out, through lots of therapy, I wasn’t the issue, so snaps to therapy.”
The titular song of the album is a heartfelt apology and soul-searching ballad about self-hatred, forgiveness and love, and the complex arena where all these emotions and energies collide.
“I love you, please don’t hate me. I’ve put you through so much, baby. I’m so sick of starting every sentence with I’m sorry, but I love you, please don’t hate me,” Fischer begs in the song.
“You know that I hate myself, so you don’t have to hate me too. I make a joke just to cope in the hope that you see me the way that you used to without the excuses,” he belts later.
At his Sydney show, the mood in the intense song was lifted slightly when Fischer was on his stool and sung to the crowd “I love you, please don’t hate me”, with one audience member telling him “We could never”.
In addition to Shark and Lovato, Fischer has worked with the likes of Meghan Trainor and Lewis Capaldi. He’s also written songs for Keith Urban, Andy Grammer and Jessie J.
The album will be out via Sony Music later this year.
