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After focusing on friendship with his excellent 2023 Lost a Friend<\/em> EP, rising British singer-songwriter Saint Harison is ready to cast out the haunting spirits still percolating from his last romantic relationship.<\/p>\n On Friday (May 29), the Southampton-born artist, 29, shared his latest project, Ghosted<\/em> \u2014 an immersive, unflinching look at a person working through the demise of particularly tumultuous romance. From regretfully ignoring his own intuition (\u201cBad\u201d) and soundtracking a full-on emotional shutdown (\u201cPanic Room\u201d) to eventually taking accountability and reaching a precious level of peace (\u201cWhite to a Wedding\u201d), Harison\u2019s new EP is a deft display of his storytelling ability, both vocally and lyrically.<\/p>\n More from Billboard<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201c[In time since Lost a Friend<\/em>], I moved to L.A. from England, and this project is all about my time dating out there, finding someone and falling in love, and being on the receiving end of a really s\u2014t situation,\u201d he tells Billboard<\/em>. \u201cI grew so much through writing this project. I\u2019ve also started therapy. I\u2019ve had some horrible, draining times, mental health-wise, so I wanted that edge and darkness to come across.\u201d<\/p>\n To make sense out of that darkness, Harison tapped longtime collaborator Akeel Henry and expanded his circle of co-creatives to include Oscar-winning contemporary R&B architect D\u2019Mile and Nova Wav, the production-songwriting duo of Brittany \u201cChi\u201d Coney and Denisia \u201cBlu June\u201d Andrews, who worked on Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s Renaissance<\/em> and Cowboy Carter<\/em> LPs. With a rebooted cast of characters, Harison crafted a project that finds him fine-tuning his singular songwriting approach \u2014 not many artists can successfully land a lyric like \u201cYou made me hate Beyonc\u00e9\u201d \u2014 while also exploring notes of \u201860s soul-pop and small, albeit notable, increases in tempo.<\/p>\n At the top of the year, Harison joined Sam Smith for their 20-show residency at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, Calif. In between shows, the two queer vocal acrobats were able to foster true kinship \u2014 and Harison also got to pick up a few pointers for his own upcoming U.S. trek this fall.<\/p>\n Below, Saint Harison walks Billboard<\/em> through Ghosted<\/em>, reveals what he learned from Sam Smith and spills what it was like meeting Beyonc\u00e9 for the first time.<\/p>\n Was Ghosted<\/em> always the title for the full project?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know where it came from really. I was working on a project in February 2024, and I scrapped almost all of it. \u201cGhosted\u201d was the one song that kept sticking around throughout all the revisions. And it always felt like it set the tone. I find when I write, I get one song that becomes my muse for the rest of the project. It just felt correct that the whole thing would be called Ghosted<\/em>.<\/p>\n Why did you scrap that first project?<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, it was s\u2014t.<\/p>\n Well, what\u2019s your bar for s\u2014t?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was upset because I put so much work into it. I did a whole camp and worked with so many good people on that project, so [me scrapping] it wasn\u2019t a reflection of them. I just didn\u2019t feel like I achieved what I had set out to. I know it when I hear it. And there wasn\u2019t enough honesty for me. I was also trying to get a few uptempos \u2014 because I\u2019m aware that I\u2019m much better at writing slower songs about sad things \u2014 but those felt a little forced to me.\u00a0 They\u2019re still great songs, but they didn\u2019t have a narrative that I felt like was important to tell.<\/p>\n What was the last song you added to the project? Why did it make Ghosted <\/em>feel complete?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cGlass Houses.\u201d I felt like I\u2019d done my s\u2014t-talking with \u201cBad\u201d and \u201cStuck,\u201d but I thought the project was still lacking empathy. And it was lacking a part of me that\u2019s probably the realest: my ability to forgive and see that some people are truly hurting. Growing up in an abusive household makes you realize how much people can take away from growing up. Sometimes, when you meet people\u2019s parents and learn more about their family dynamic, you can see some people don\u2019t have good examples of love. So, that was the last song I added, and I\u2019m glad because it really is my attitude towards everything after what I\u2019ve been through.<\/p>\n \u201cPanic Room\u201d sounds like nothing else on the project. How did that one come together?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was having the biggest writer\u2019s block and had just scrapped the last project. I didn\u2019t know what to do. I thought I did my best, but I didn\u2019t feel like that was good enough, so I started writing one-minute songs. It took the pressure off of having to come up with a whole song and then a whole second verse and then a bridge. I was just making s\u2014t and having fun.<\/p>\n \u201cPanic Room\u201d was actually two songs. The first song was called \u201cI Hate Beyonc\u00e9,\u201d and the other one was \u201cPanic Room.\u201d I put them together, because that song feels like a whole trip, the acknowledgement of loss and change.<\/p>\n You co-wrote \u201cGlass Houses\u201d with D\u2019Mile and worked with Nova Wave on that. What was it like working with those super-producers? Did you learn anything from them?<\/strong><\/p>\n Unbelievable. I had wanted to work with [Nova Wav] for such a long time. Obviously, I\u2019m the biggest Beyonc\u00e9 stan, so I was very aware of their work and achievements, as well as their stuff with Jazmine [Sullivan]. And D\u2019Mile was the same \u2014 they were bucket list [collaborators]. I felt so lucky to be able to work with them at a time where I feel like I\u2019m still building and finding a new audience and figuring it all out. And they\u2019re just so nice, too. I remeber the first time I met D\u2019Mile, he was just so warm and friendly.<\/p>\n Why did \u201cWhite to a Wedding\u201d need to be last?<\/strong><\/p>\n That song was originally a country song. I love writing country music, which is something people don\u2019t know. Dolly Parton was the first album I ever bought. The style of storytelling in country music puts me back into the present, and allows me to tell a narrative from start to finish, which I feel is sometimes hard when you\u2019re trying to make a \u201chit record.\u201d I had \u201cWhite to a Wedding\u201d sitting for a while, and I really wanted to make it work within the context of Ghosted<\/em>. It feels like closure in a really weird way; I\u2019m accepting this person is going to move on forever, but also, it still should\u2019ve been me. It just felt like the best [closing]I could give to that situation.<\/p>\n How has your creative process changed between this project and Lost a Friend<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n I still write a lot by myself. \u201cPanic Room,\u201d \u201cDaffodil\u201d and \u201cGhosted\u201d were all done in bedrooms and people\u2019s living rooms. That is something that will probably stick with me forever. The studio feels like so much pressure; all this equipment and all these buttons, $20,000 microphones\u2026 I\u2019m like, \u201cOh my God, I better write a great song.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also become a lot more confident in songwriting, which I owe to all the songwriters I worked with, on \u201cLost a Friend,\u201d for example, because you learn so much. Songwriting is such a skill, and I\u2019m grateful to have watched these talented writers and producers push instead of settling.<\/p>\n Which lyric are you most proud of on Ghosted<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n [Laughs<\/em>]. My head goes immediately to \u201cPanic Room.\u201d I remember writing [\u201cYou made me hate Beyonc\u00e9\u201d] and getting such mixed reactions from everyone around me. People were like, \u201cI don\u2019t know if you can say this,\u201d and I thought that was so weird, because obviously<\/em> I\u2019m in love with Beyonc\u00e9 and clearly the song is saying, \u201cYou f\u2014ked up my favorite person for me.\u201d This person literally ruined my life because now I can\u2019t even listen to Renaissance<\/a><\/em>!<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if \u201cproud\u201d is the right word, but when I\u2019m asked about a particular lyric on Ghosted<\/em>, my mind always go to that one. I am the King of the Beyhive in my mind, and this is the realest s\u2014t I\u2019ve ever written! I love that song.<\/p>\n When you met Beyonc\u00e9 at last month\u2019s C\u00e9cred event<\/a>, was that lyric on loop in your head?<\/strong><\/p>\n Not really, because I was so overwhelmed that she was stood in front of me. She\u2019s an absolute angel. She knew who I was, and she said some really, some really nice things. I was overwhelmed by the whole experience. But, the next day, I definitely was a bit like, \u201cGod, I hope she f\u2014king likes my song.\u201d But I think she would understand it being the absolute genius and queen she is. She would understand the vulnerability and songwriting behind that. As long as she knows that I absolutely adore her, which she does, then I think we\u2019re okay. Trust, with a few SirDavis [cocktails] in my system, I definitely told her how I felt!<\/p>\n You played a couple shows with Sam Smith earlier this year. How was that?<\/strong><\/p>\n It was one of the best experiences I\u2019ve had of my career so far. Sam was such an inspiration to me growing up. We had loads of conversations whilst I was there, and we had a drink after the final show. We talked about what it\u2019s like to be queer in this industry, how difficult it can be, struggling with perception, and all of that stuff. I learned that sometimes we forget even the grandest starts may have insecurities. I also learned it\u2019s okay to not feel at your best all the time. This industry is such a pressure cooker, and so intense, that it\u2019s nice to have met someone I was so inspired by, and have them be there for me as a peer and a bit of a mentor.<\/p>\n And the crowds were amazing! \u201cUnholy\u201d went off every night.<\/p>\n What else do you have planned this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n I want to start a podcast! Like a \u201cGhosted Anonymous,\u201d or something along the lines of that. Even if it\u2019s just a short YouTube series. I like talking; I will chew anyone\u2019s ear off.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also doing a US tour, and then it\u2019s back to writing. I probably have 60% of my new projects finished.<\/p>\n What kind of head space are you in right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m deep-diving back into my childhood and my life. Anyone who\u2019s working on it with me, we\u2019re definitely in a trauma bond at this point. It\u2019s just gonna be dark and sad from here on out. Honestly, the day that I do a happy song, I will have to go out and celebrate and order champagne.<\/p>\n Best of Billboard<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Billboard’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n