You’re crying alone in a hotel bed, going over what happened and wondering if somehow you were the one who got it wrong.
PEPTALK’s Bad People, released on 28 August 2026, takes you back to the feeling of barely being able to walk when someone makes a pass at you. Later, you’re called “sensitive” for how you react. Two years pass. You even move cities to try to get away from it, but a memory can pull you straight back there.
There’s a dreamy, floating quality to the synths, while the drums hit hard beneath them. As the melody climbs, the vocals stretch higher with it, sounding increasingly desperate to break free from the thoughts running through the lyrics.
It’s one of PEPTALK’s most vulnerable songs. The lyrics leave little distance between what happened and what came afterwards, from the flashbacks to crying alone in that hotel room.
Written by Lara Frew, Jay-Lee Kwan and Phoebe Sinclair, “Bad People” was produced by Middleman and Kwan.
“I know I knew better” keeps coming back. You know someone else crossed the line, yet part of you is still asking why you didn’t see it coming. The flashbacks arrive in an instant. Keeping the door closed only works until something opens it again.
There’s an attempt to push back against all that self-blame with “I did all that I could do.”
It lasts only a few seconds.
“I should’ve known better.”
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