Track of the Day: Peter Richardson - 'Please Don't Believe Me'

Emerging Dublin singer-songwriter Peter Richardson has released his poignant second single, 'Please Don't Believe Me' as the esteemed follow-up to his debut, 'The End of the World'.

The 22-year-old began his music career independently during the COVID-19 pandemic, receiving huge support for his debut single. He is hoping to make even more of an impact with the gripping sophomore track.

Born into a musical family, with his parents meeting on the set of a school musical together, songwriting and performing have always been at the centre of Richardson's world and is forever present in his home. Influenced by his dad's CD collection, the artist was greatly impacted by the tunes of Talking Heads, David Byrne and folk heroes Ray LaMontagne and Fleet Foxes.

Irish singer-songwriters like Paul Brady and Declan O’Rourke also had a strong presence in his home, as well as his family's love for all things Johnny Cash. Some of Peter's personal favourites include modern examples, such as Bon Iver, Hozier and Lorde.

Since kickstarting his songwriting habit at the age of 15, Peter blossomed in UCD's Musical Society before COVID gave him the nudge to start officially recording releases.

"I recorded and released my debut single ‘The End of the World’ from home, and started sharing online performances of my favourite music on social media, and I’ve been so blown away by the positive response," Peter tells Hot Press.

"I think 'Please Don't Believe Me' is really about hurt, how it can drive you to make mistakes, even feign affection, just so you can have ‘someone to hold onto’. Sometimes when you get hurt it blunts you, makes you want to shut off that side of you that cares, sometimes so much so that eventually you become the villain in someone else’s story. I think in a way the song is an acknowledgement of that kind of weakness, and an attempt at some kind of apology for that."

"I think we often brush off the 'it’s not you it’s me' thing as a cliché, but life is complicated," Peter adds when asked about the track's origins. "So many of the stories told in music these days cast a hero and a villain, but in recent years I’ve learned that it’s not always that black and white. Everybody has their own things going on, and sometimes it’s not that simple. I think this song sheds light on that complexity. It can be messy and confusing trying to navigate these things, and the pain that that confusion can bring."

Peter first thought of the track's chorus roughly five years ago, but only finished the track a number of years later.

"I try never to force lyrics if the feeling behind them isn’t there, so it helps to have a range of songs on the go with different feelings, so I can throw myself into writing depending on what headspace I’m in at the time. I recorded the song at home during the summer, over the course of the second lockdown."

Peter and two of his friends shot all of the promotional material in their local area for both singles, being forced to take a DIY approach to both music production and promotion with COVID. Peter is hard at work on another single at the moment, which he’ll be releasing in the next few months. Following that, an EP is incoming further down the line once he finishes college this May.

"The track is also a raw, honest admittance that I’m not perfect and I make mistakes, which is a fact can be hard to come to terms with. Writing this song was a way of letting that out for me I guess," Peter explains. I suppose I just hope that it makes people feel something. At the moment, with day-to-day life being so monotonous in lockdown, I think music has been even more of a saviour for me than usual.

"When so little is happening it can feel like it strips you of your passion, your emotion, it kind of numbs you a little. Music has really helped me in that respect, to stick on a song and for a few minutes inject a bit of feeling into your day is so crucial, at least for me. So I hope it can help people with that, to detach them a little and wrap them up in a story for a few minutes, even if it is a sad one."

Listen to 'Please Don't Believe Me' below: