From piano ballads to dreamwave, Pearson’s sound is retro-future pop at its most personal
With a piano and a heavy heart, emerging singer-songwriter Sarah Pearson introduces herself to the world with “Tainted Heart,” the debut single from her upcoming album FAUXstalgia, due out in late 2025. Out now on all platforms, the track offers a raw, emotionally intimate entry into Pearson’s sonic world — a place where ’80s influence meets diary-style honesty.
Written in the wake of a difficult emotional period, “Tainted Heart” unspools like a confessional voice memo turned anthemic piano ballad.
“The song is about staying close to someone, even when you know they’re the one hurting you,” Pearson explains. “It felt more like journaling than writing — it just poured out.”
Within 30 minutes, she had the song. The next morning, she was in her father’s home studio with producer David Jones, shaping its lush, emotional core.
Lines like “You tell me that I’m young and I can’t be without your love / now I live with a tainted heart” strike a balance between youth and self-awareness, unflinching in their vulnerability. It’s the kind of lyric that feels soft-spoken and soul-scorching at the same time — an emotional truth wrapped in melody. The production keeps it close: simple piano, ghostly tension, and a haunting momentum that reflects the panic and longing of the lyrics.
The accompanying music video, filmed overnight in a rented Airbnb in Pearson’s hometown of Cape Town, captures this same confessional intimacy. “I wanted it to feel super-natural and chill — like you’re stepping into someone’s world,” she says. The DIY process mirrors the authenticity of the song, grounding her dreamy, faux-retro aesthetic in lived experience.
Pearson describes her debut album FAUXstalgia as “a nostalgic dreamscape of a time I never lived in.” It’s a record inspired by the sonic glow and emotional melodrama of the 1980s — an era she feels spiritually connected to. “The word ‘fauxstalgia’ means nostalgia for something you’ve never experienced,” she says. “For me, that’s the ‘80s. So, this album is my take on what that era might’ve felt and sounded like if I had lived through it.”
But make no mistake — Pearson isn’t playing dress-up in synthwave tropes. She’s channeling her own memories, real and imagined, through a vivid pop lens. Her musical upbringing (her parents owned a music college) gave her fluency in piano, drums, and vocal performance from an early age. Childhood performances, backyard concerts, Barbie pop star roleplay, and self-made Instagram fan fiction laid the groundwork for an artist born to connect.
Now armed with a diploma in music and a debut project that’s equal parts escapist and emotionally grounded, Pearson is building a new lane in alt-pop — a blend of retro romanticism and Gen Z intimacy. “Music has always been my safe space,” she says. “It’s where I feel most like myself — important, free, and understood.”
“Tainted Heart” is the first of several singles to come before FAUXstalgia’s release later this year. It’s a bold first step, steeped in the kind of emotional truth and musical clarity that makes it easy to root for her — and hard to forget her. As Pearson sings on the chorus, “I miss my unbroken heart” — but in breaking it open, she’s created something beautiful.
Hi Sarah! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to the readers?
Hey everyone! I’m Sarah Pearson, a singer-songwriter with a deep passion for writing music that feels relatable and authentic.
“Tainted Heart” feels so raw and immediate — you’ve said it poured out like a journal entry. Can you take us back to that moment of writing it and what was going through your mind?
During that time, I had so many emotions bottled up, and it felt so overwhelming. I thought to myself, I’m sure I can’t be the only one going through this, and so the songwriter in me just started writing down everything in my head. After like 30 minutes of trying chord progressions with lyrics, “Tainted Heart” was born.
The phrase ‘tainted heart’ is so evocative. How did you land on that lyric, and what does it mean to you now that the song is out in the world?
When I was putting the lyrics together, I kept having this recurring thought that after everything that happened to me, it made me feel like my life was ruined now, and I wanted a word that could sum all that up. I came across the word “Tainted,” which I think fits that description perfectly. I then thought ok, this song is talking about feelings and emotions, and that made me think of ‘heart’, so I put them together and there it was! I also really like it because the name reminds me of the song “Tainted Love,” which is one of my favorite songs. Now that it’s out, I hope the title alone will give people who listen to it who are going through something similar some peace, knowing they are not alone.
You’ve described FAUXstalgia as “a nostalgic dreamscape of a time I never lived in.” What draws you to the emotional drama and sound of the 1980s?
Growing up, I was always surrounded by 1980s movies, music, fashion, and culture from my parents, and they always made that time sound so exciting to me. The older I got, the more I wanted to know what it was like for myself, so I would spend hours on end watching and listening to anything I could find from the 80s. To me, it feels like that time would be the closest to living in a teenage dream filled with color, fun, games, friends, and so on, and that’s why I love it!
From backyard concerts to Instagram fan fiction, it sounds like performance has always been a part of your world. When did you realize it could be your career, too?
From the youngest age I can remember, probably around 6, almost every evening after work, when my parents would be relaxing watching TV, I would come in and put on some music and put on a show. Even when my family would come over, I would put on a show for them. I loved the idea of entering people and making them feel like they could escape reality for a bit. When I was 8, my parents sent me for singing lessons, and when I realized I could sing, that’s when it hit me, this is my dream, I need to make it my career, and I have to pursue this no matter what!