trust nobody, the new single by Canberra’s own pop singer-songwriter and The Voice alumni Lucy Sugerman, is a heart wrenching look into feelings of hurt and distrust that we struggle with after a broken relationship. Sugerman’s confessional tracks never fail to win over the listener, with clever imagery and unapologetic emotion through their bold and spirited lyrics.
A captivating single from her upcoming EP hurt that’s man made, trust nobody follows the playful, quick witted and somewhat cheeky lyrics of Lucy’s last single golden boy, released in May. A stark change in creative direction, trust nobody shows her versatility as a song writer, with delicate vocals and an angelic tone.
The song gives us a sneak peek into Sugerman’s mind, describing feelings of trust versus deceit, and belief versus doubt. It’s twinkling production evokes melancholy emotion that squeezes your heart, with a slow build that leaves you left wanting more. Lyrically, the track is filled with heartbreaking lines like – ‘pull me closer, I know you’ll disappear’, and moments of profound self-reflection, referring to herself in lines like – ‘this heartless woman has no heart to break’.
We sat down for a chat with Lucy to get some insight into the writing of the new single, and what inspired such a change in pace from her recent work.
When did you first start writing this track?
I first started writing this track at the end of 2019 in a session with my friend Charlie (Thomas Porter). It came together in about 3 hours straight after I had just had a super disappointing meeting with a label executive at the time. Charlie hit record for a microphone in the piano room and recorded all my piano and vocal musings, and built the production around the song at the same time it was being written and formed in my brain, and it was one of those songs that just came together seamlessly in some unexplainable way which felt pretty cool.
Can you give us some insight into the meaning behind the lyrics?
It was originally inspired by a Tinder boy mixed in with still not being fully over my ex-boyfriend, which is pretty funny to me looking back on it, but it’s taken on a bunch of new meanings now. Trust in others is inevitably tricky, but the thing that really takes a toll on me is trying to trust myself. trust nobody to me, captures the push and pull of those two aspects of trust and I think also aptly summarises my current feelings about the world today.
This song heads in a different direction from your recent, pop inspires singles. What inspired this change of pace?
When I first started songwriting, it was very ballad and piano-based, so I like to think this sort of sits in the middle between that and the more upbeat pop songs I’ve recently released like golden boy.
I think it still has the brutally honest aspect of golden boy and i wanna kiss boys cause i’m bored, but definitely has more blatant vulnerability and sensitivity to it. I tend to write how I feel and whatever comes to me, rather than trying to stick to a certain style, so I suppose this one just happened to be what poured out of me that day!
I actually wrote golden boy with Charlie as well – he’s got a distinctive production flair in that he’s completely self-taught and can make professional, full-sounding real instrument sounds (such as the orchestral elements you hear in trust nobody) from a simple bedroom studio setup.
What projects can we look forward to from you in the near future?
More songs and (hopefully!) more shows! A million genre one-eighties and plenty of dancing and tears to come.
Get the first exclusive play of the new song here.
Follow Lucy on Instagram @lucysugermanmusic
