The sonic identity and vulnerable expression of self is what stood out to me from an exclusive listen to this exceptional body of work. Sam Fischer took to introducing himself and his team, oozing with gratitude for this opportunity to share his new music and further insight into Sam Fischer’s narrative.
Having the pleasure of meeting with Sam Fischer and his team at Sony Music for a playback session. Sam guided us through the creativity behind his highly anticipated project, set to be shared with his universal audience in May 2023. The singer-songwriter, originally from Australia, spoke with honesty and authenticity as he shared the inspirations and thought process behind each of the seven tracks, narrating how personal experiences have shaped the person and creative intention at the foundation of the project.
The playback session began, with Sam adding a poignant note with his first song, ‘You Don’t Call Me’. Discussing with us a recent bereavement, and the importance he feels of sharing with his audience truths about mental health and the power of expression as a form of healing. These events that were happening in his life were the pinnacle in the writing of many songs he would share. ‘You Don’t Call Me’ narrates the relatable concept of losing touch with a friend, and how it can seem, rather suddenly, that they are no longer in your life. Sam’s soulful, pop-infused vocals are impeccable, and the harmonies nod to genres of influence Sam had whilst writing the album. Notably, the sonic scope seemed heavily influenced by Gospel and Soul music throughout the seven songs we heard, and a teaser for us as too big feature artists to expect later on in the playback session.
The room was entranced, as Sam continued to his second track ‘Iceberg’, he explained the personal exploration that motivated his lyric in this song. Sam spoke openly of his struggle with creating within the industry as it stands today, he explained the lows and the highs of his experience and career so far, and how this has altered his mental health and his perspective on the world. This was an integral conversation to introduce ‘Iceberg’, in Sam’s own words he explained the narrative,
“When everyone tells you, you’re on fire! But I feel like I’m standing on the tip of an iceberg, alone…and the fire’s going out.”
The singer-songwriter went on to express his need to give himself to his audience, but all whilst struggling to be there for himself, a concept which I found commendable to explore as an artist. We were able to learn Sam’s narrative, how his recent journey with self-development and any inner conflicts that have tripped him up along the way, we were welcomed into Sam’s authentic headspace, which drives the emotion and craftsmanship that can be heard in every song.
This brought us to the tender third track, ‘Hard to Love’. Authentically sharing the flaws and regrets Sam has come to terms with about himself, he pleads with his listeners with his raw vocals and simplistic-yet-effective hook, “please don’t give me up when I’m hard to love”. This song evidenced Sam’s recent revelations, the writer explained how he is trying to better himself for himself and his loved ones, at every opportunity or milestone in his career.
The fourth track, “Second-Hand Happiness” moves into a more reflective aspect of Sam’s narrative, as this song depicts the moment you know you have peaceful closure with an ex. The artist’s pop-dance style is so fitting to the world in which this song takes us, the relief and happiness that follows the process of being heartbroken but as time passes you heal, forgive and genuinely wish them all the best.
Sam explained, “when I feel alone, it’s probably time to write a song about it,” as he moved on to his relationship (or lack of) with his father, a personal narrative that I found particularly moving. Sam touched on themes of family, the art of releasing who you are, which sometimes means cutting out toxic relationships that are holding you back. A difficult concept that Sam explained, he’d been working through in his life recently. I felt Sam’s notions are important, his ear-worm melodies, and the art of saying complicated things in an uncomplicated and moving way, are all impressive characteristics of the artist’s latest project. Sam masters this in his emotive fifth track, ‘The Making of Me’.
As the playback was coming to an end, the singer-songwriter shared two final songs, an exclusive duet with an unrevealed feature artist, which was co-written with Sasha Sloan, a major influential figure of Sam’s in his writing of his latest work. ‘High on You’ includes a variety of intricate runs and beautiful hooks that decorates the instrumental and accompanies Sam’s enriched harmonies, depicting a vulnerable and honest declaration of love as the lyric wrestles with the act of loving someone so much you feel they deserve better than you, or as if it’s “almost unfair that I’m what you’ve got”. Another relatable concept that will connect with Sam Fischer’s worldwide listeners.
Sam concluded the session with his final song, ‘I Love You, Please Don’t Hate Me’ featuring the astonishing L.A. Gospel Choir, adding depth and heart to Fischer’s contemplative lyrics, allowing the world to know who he is, personally and sonically by sharing his experiences musically.
After the playback, I was able to grab the very in-demand Sam, for a chat about the person as well as the songwriter behind his recent project. Some takeaways from this informal interview are what I believe has made Sam Fischer so successful as an artist so far. His resilience to being kicked down by the industry and life in general and his account of these pinnacle events resulted in stand-out releases that have made his career. The 2019 hit ‘This City’ and most recently, ‘Carry It Well’ present Sam Fischer as an artist who is advocating for the therapy of sharing your experiences and connecting with the masses over something created from a place of individuality and sometimes, even loneliness.
The artist expressed his gratitude that the playback session date had finally arrived. We spoke about Sam’s writing process and discussed the songwriter’s task of deciding what narratives you are aching to share, going through creative phases of ‘I like everything I’m writing right now’, and how that passion for creating drives a project like Sam Fischer’s latest work.
Sam knew what he wanted to say, as an artist and a human being, he uses his talent to paint the words he can only express through his music. This awaited project is a cathartic and empowering sound that brings in elements of the night-time Pop genre influenced by the clubs in L.A, Sam has coined his sonic identity with his introspective reflections on his life now and depicts the difficulty of getting used to/dealing with things going from zero to one thousand in days.
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