SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Saint Harison says that for him, dating isn't easy these days.
SAINT HARISON: People just think they have endless options (laughter). And they don't.
SIMON: "Ghosted" is the name of the English musician's new EP, which he says was inspired by a situation in which somebody led him on. On this EP, Saint Harison taps into the rawness and sound of classic soul.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GHOSTED")
SAINT HARISON: (Singing) Last few days been so empty. I [expletive] my brain, then assess my body. Is there somebody else you want? Or something you want undone? Ghosted.
You know, my granddad introduced me to music when I was really young. Probably around 6 or 7, I remember. Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin. He loved Dean Martin. He loved Barbara Streisand. And he would just always play me these incredible, soulful, really raw voices, actually. And I just grew up thinking, that's how you sing. There's no other way.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GHOSTED")
SAINT HARISON: (Singing) Say that it ain't the night. Say you working overtime. If it's so hard just loving me, I'd much rather you ghosted me.
SIMON: What about those voices saying to you, spoke to you specifically, do you think?
SAINT HARISON: I think a lot of it is in storytelling 'cause I also - like, one of the first albums I bought was "Rainbow" by Dolly Parton, and I fell in love with storytelling as well. But I think the voices - it was just the feeling. It was the way, like, I was just, like, bought to uncontrollable emotion, and my skin would just, like - I get goose bumps, and sometimes I didn't even know what they were singing about, but I felt like I knew.
SIMON: Let me ask you a bit about your early life in Southampton.
SAINT HARISON: Oh, yeah.
SIMON: I gather there was trouble at home.
SAINT HARISON: Yeah. Yeah, I grew up in an abusive household. I lived with my mom and my dad, and I have two younger siblings, and then me and my mom and my siblings left when I was about 12. And we were in a safe house, and that was actually why I started songwriting, was because we heard "Chasing Pavements" by Adele on the radio in the reception of the safe house.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHASING PAVEMENTS")
ADELE: (Singing) Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements even if it leads nowhere?
SAINT HARISON: I couldn't believe that this song with these lyrics was playing at that moment, which just - it felt so related to the situation so much, and it's had an impact in my life ever since, that song.
SIMON: I wonder, is there a song on this EP that you might point us towards specifically that talks a bit about that kind of spirit you describe?
SAINT HARISON: Oh, my gosh. I love "Glass Houses."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GLASS HOUSES")
SAINT HARISON: (Singing) I ain't no liar.
Forgiveness. You know, like, I've had to see so many people close to me - my dad being one of them - do things that, like, in some sort of way, like I've had to move on from.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GLASS HOUSES")
SAINT HARISON: (Singing) But we all live in glass houses, don't we? And I been hurtin' lately. Throwin' stones that I can't take. And I could really hurt you, baby. But hurtin' you won't make me OK.
SIMON: It's a beautiful song.
SAINT HARISON: Thank you. I just love the sentiment of we all live in glass houses, and, you know, we all need to kind of be kind and share love, especially with everything going on in the world right now. So that song is a really important one to me.
SIMON: May I ask what kind of lives you and your mother were able to make with each other and for yourselves after you left your father?
SAINT HARISON: Yeah. I mean, we were in the safe home for a while, and then after that, I ended up going on to teaching. And I taught - I started with kids choirs, and it was in lockdown that I stopped teaching 'cause all the schools were closed, and I posted a video on TikTok. And that kind of blew up, and that's what enabled me to pursue the music career.
SIMON: So you're teaching one day, and within a couple of years, you're performing all over.
SAINT HARISON: Yeah, teaching one day, and then within a few months, I'm in LA, which - I've never even been to America. You know, the, like, furthest I've gone on a flight was, like, from England to Spain, which is, like, two hours.
SIMON: (Laughter).
SAINT HARISON: It was, yeah, completely unexpected.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GLASS HOUSES")
SAINT HARISON: (Singing) I could really hurt you baby. But hurtin' you won't make me ok.
SIMON: Let me ask you about another song on your current EP. It's called "White To A Wedding." What moved this into your mind?
SAINT HARISON: I had, you know, a person in my life that has definitely moved on for good. And, yeah, I just wrote this story of how, you know, I made peace with losing someone forever but, you know, still should have been me. And I don't know. It goes back to kind of what I was saying before about, like, my first love was that, like, storytelling in music and my love for Dolly. And I just - I felt like I really wanted to have something that really told a story on this project.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHITE TO A WEDDING")
SAINT HARISON: (Singing) I'ma go ahead and where white to your wedding. Tell 'em that it should've been me stood where he's standing. Hurts to be happy for you but I can't keep crying. So I'ma go ahead and wear white to your wedding.
SIMON: I think even in 2026, some listeners are going to be struck by how openly you discuss romantic relationships with men.
SAINT HARISON: Yeah.
SIMON: Pride Month starts on Monday. Do you hope people will take a kind of cue or encouragement or a message from this?
SAINT HARISON: Yeah. I mean, it's so funny that you ask about that because sometimes if you say that you're gay, that can become such a overpowering thing that maybe people only focus on that part of you. But obviously, in the way I write, I just couldn't - there was no other way, really.
(SOUNDBITE OF SAINT HARISON SONG, "BAD")
SAINT HARISON: I hope people find my music if they need it. Since my experience with "Chasing Pavements" and all of that story, like, I believe there's real power in, like, songs coming to you. In times that you need it, I think it can change your life.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BAD")
SAINT HARISON: (Singing) So you're playing victim? Made me out to be the villain, guess your love turned to resentment.
SIMON: Saint Harison, his new EP out now called "Ghosted." Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BAD")
SAINT HARISON: (Singing) Wasting my goodies on. I shoulda left your text on read. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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