Emerging artist Sarah Pearson unveils raw confessional anthem ‘Tainted Heart’ in nostalgic rhyme to unlived eras

Sarah Pearson debut single, Tainted Heart, arrives as a haunting piano ballad that blurs the line between diary entry and anthemic pop.

Released ahead of her 2025 album FAUXstalgia, the track—born from a late-night burst of emotion—captures the paradox of clinging to a toxic love.

“It poured out in 30 minutes, like journaling with melody,” says the Cape Town-born artist, who recorded the song the next morning in her father’s home studio with producer David Jones.

Her lyrics, raw and unflinching “You tell me I’m young and can’t be without your love, now I live with a tainted heart”, pulse with Gen Z vulnerability, wrapped in the atmospheric tension of ’80s-inspired production.

The DIY music video, shot overnight in a rented Airbnb, mirrors the song’s intimacy. “I wanted it to feel like stepping into someone’s private world,” Pearson explains, her retro aesthetic grounded in frayed edges and unpolished honesty.

This authenticity defines her broader vision for FAUXstalgia, an album she describes as “nostalgia for a decade I never lived.” Channeling the emotional melodrama of 1980s synth-pop, Pearson reimagines the era through her own lens—one shaped by childhood backyard concerts, Barbie pop-star fantasies, and a diploma in music.

But this isn’t mere cosplay. Raised in a family that ran a music college, Pearson infuses her alt-pop sound with lived experience. “Music is where I feel most like myself—free and understood,” she says.

Tainted Heart lays bare that journey, balancing youthful longing with sharp self-awareness.

As she mourns an “unbroken heart” in the chorus, Pearson’s voice—soft yet searing—transforms personal pain into universal resonance.

With more singles on the horizon, she’s carving a lane where retro romanticism meets Gen Z candor, proving that even a tainted heart can create something timeless.