“Tainted Love” is a song with history. Many artists have had their fair share of fun with it, but up until now, there’s hardly any artist except for Saint Louis and Marilyn Manson have really tuned into the escapism and loss love depicted in the lyricism and melodies. Saint Louis adds a haunting quality to the song. The desire to hit the road really feels like hitting home when Saint Louis really tunes into that road-trip solitude and drifting introspection.

It’s hard to even imagine this is a cover song because everything seems to be clicking really well together. He has a very raw sensibility wrapped up in romanticism. The mood-filled soundscape takes you somewhere else, into the contemplation of the lingering and drifting of a loss love. With American folk musician’s intimate, expressive style, it really feels like the song has become a part of Saint Louis’s own storytelling.

The push and pull is being filtered through a picturesque soundscape. A speck of Californian flower-esque aesthetic in the undertone of the song, like a ghost gazing. Saint Louis explores a feel of nostalgia inside nostalgia, yet not thickly layered or too indulgent. He uplifts and transforms all strands of feelings and drastic thoughts in the wind, which is a kind of poetry that his arrangement of “Tainted Love” has.

There has been a haunting, drastic brokenness of the song which Marilyn Manson brought up. The original and Soft Cell’s version gives “Tainted Love” an optimistic danceable quality that seems slightly out of sort with the lyrics. In Saint Louis’s arrangement, the preserved thoughts and emotions are being shined through so effortlessly. It’s amazing to hear that side of the song being richly explored that it almost feels like there’s a new life and new meaning that he gives to “Tainted Love.”