The musician’s fourth studio album ‘Confessions of a Lonely Heart’ is out now

NEED TO KNOW

• Eric Nam opens up to PEOPLE about his new album Confessions of a Lonely Heart, which explores themes of isolation and searching for connection
• “I have never felt more confident in a project than I do right now with this album,” says the Korean-American musician
• Nam also discusses his forthcoming role in K-Pop: The Debut

For Eric Nam, it was the specific feeling of loneliness that fueled the inspiration for his new album.

After spending the last several years in a balancing act as a singer, songwriter, actor and entrepreneur, the Korean-American musician, who appeared on season 4 of The Traitors, found himself meditating on the isolation he experienced.

Confessions of a Lonely Heart, his fourth studio album (out now) is a project that not only explores themes of loneliness, but is actively searching for connection.

“We’re so connected on our phones and through the internet and everything is at our disposal, but as that’s happened, I think we have all actually increased in loneliness,” Nam, 37, tells PEOPLE.

But at its core, there’s a lot of hope that surfaces throughout the project. “It ends with a lot of optimism,” says Nam.

Below, Nam speaks to PEOPLE about his new music video for “Psycho,” his forthcoming role in K-Pop: The Debut and if that Traitors betrayal left any scars.

PEOPLE: Why did you decide to title this album Confessions of a Lonely Heart?

ERIC NAM: Because I think we’re all very lonely. Maybe because I’m lonely, too. The overarching, repeated theme was loneliness. Part of it is I’ve spent so much of my life and my career really barreling down, hunkering down and getting the work done and fighting the good fight for whatever that means. Over the past few years, it’s been a lot of flashy things. I’ve done four movies, The Traitors, two world tours and a lot of things. But at the end of the day, I was like, “Man, I think I’m still very lonely.” We’re so connected on our phones and through the internet and everything is at our disposal, but as that’s happened, I think we have all actually increased in loneliness. 

Then we really dove deep into my relationship with loneliness: how you can have so many different things in the world, so many people and all these things around you, and feel so isolated and lonely. The album explores those themes of loneliness — when I feel the loneliness, how to get out of it, and as sad and as depressing as it can sound, I want to say that it’s not a sad album. It’s an album that’s searching for answers to it, but also searching for love and for connection. It ends with a lot of optimism.

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PEOPLE: How does this album show your growth as an artist?

NAM: I have never felt more confident in a project than I do right now with this album. We’re trying a lot of things and going a lot of places that we’ve never gone before. Even with the lead single for the album, “Psycho,” I’ve never done a song like this. It’s very ‘80s rock, big band-inspired, and the melodies are very soaring. There are moments of a lot of vulnerability and really deep honesty that take time and maturity [to be] ready to share these things in a lyrical way.

When it comes to the visuals, we tried to get very creative in how we put everything together so it feels like a cohesive piece of work, but also showcases new sides to myself as a fledgling actor. I think almost every song on this album could be a single, which is why it was so hard to figure out how to roll this out.

PEOPLE: On the topic of “Psycho,” can you tell me what inspired that one as well as its music video?

NAM: We’ve all done stupid, crazy things when we’re madly in love. So [the song] is talking about wanting to be in that type of love where I’m willing to do anything and everything, and I’m going to come off as an absolute crazy person, but that’s just the way I am, and I’m fully into it. I think people are scared of cringe. People are scared of putting themselves out there fully in today’s day and age, but it’s really about embracing that. 

In the creative for it, the song feels theatrical, and when we perform it live, it feels so intense. And [we thought], “What if we try to pay homage to some of our favorite crazy people in films?” So Sterling Larose, who’s the director, and then Danna Takako, who’s my creative director, we talked a lot about what some iconic films are that have some really intense psychos. We had this list of No Country for Old Men to American Psycho, to Willy Wonka, Then we put together a music video that pays homage to them.

The other real, real on this is I have had a lot of insane people in my life, really crazy characters, and I don’t know why I attract these types of people. It’s not just romantically; it’s just in life, in business, in friends. And I think that’s kind of where the conversation started when I was in the room. I was like, “God, I keep attracting these really crazy people.” If Obsession, the film had a soundtrack, this is what it should be.

PEOPLE: Were there any artists or films that inspired your latest record?

NAM: There were a lot of Wong Kar-wai films. I was watching Her with Joaquin Phoenix, The Lobster with Colin Farrell. I was watching a lot of stuff on people who feel isolated and lonely in a certain way. Then, I was watching Psycho. 

PEOPLE: How has your time on The Traitors impacted your music career?

ERIC NAM: Honestly, I think it kind of waits to be seen. I think there’s definitely some newer people coming in. I’ll go through the comments on the videos and everything. It’s like, “Oh, I found you through Traitors.” And “Wow, what a surprise.” That kind of thing. So I always love reaching new audiences and sharing the new music. I just did a slew of underplay shows in New York and L.A., and there was a good handful of newer people who had never seen me live, so that was very interesting to see and very encouraging.

PEOPLE: Why did you take a step back from music for three years?

NAM: It was an unintentional step back. The last album was 2023, which is crazy, but I essentially toured for almost a year after that. By the end of 2024 is when we started writing this project, but then I also had multiple film and TV projects come in. Obviously, we had The Traitors, and then I was in the process of doing Avatar: The Last Airbender, and then I had two other films lock in.

One was K-Pop: The Debut, which will be out in February 2027, and then another film called Loser with Julia Fox and Angourie Rice, Finn Bennett, and Lukas Gage. And then I have all the other podcasts and digital things that I do. It kind of flew by. I’m excited to finally give birth to this [album] and let people live with it and enjoy it, and hopefully it connects and resonates with people. My hope is to not let the next release be another three years. I actually have more coming, I think, hopefully soon. 

PEOPLE: You’re going to be starring in K-Pop: The Debut. Can you talk to me about what your role is in the film, and what people can expect?

NAM: The film is about this girl, Lizzy Lee, who is born and raised in L.A., and she, much like my story, ends up on a music competition show, kind of like American Idol or The Voice in Korea. So she gets to Korea, and she’s out of her element. I am an assistant to one of the producers of the executives at the label that is putting the show together, and we develop a bond. I end up helping her out a lot and encouraging her to keep going. It is an interesting role. I don’t know how much I’m allowed to share. I can say I’m the male lead in this film, so No. 2 on the call sheet. It was a very, very fun film, and I’m very excited for the world to see it. 

PEOPLE: From your time on The Traitors, who do you keep in touch with the most?

NAM: I would say probably Maura [Higgins] and Kristen [Kish] are the most regular. Lisa Rinna, because we always run into each other everywhere. Tara [Lipinski], we’ll talk occasionally. But that’s the most often, I would say. Rob [Rausch] every once in a while, but he’s not a man of many words.

PEOPLE: On The Traitors, you experienced a big betrayal. Did it affect you beyond the game into your life?

NAM: It was a game, and you got to move on. Coming out of that, there was a lot of reflection that I did. When I said I have a lot of psychos in my life, I get stabbed in the back a lot. Even “How the Fire Started,” yes, we used it to leverage a lot of the characters on the show, but the song was mostly written before The Traitors happened. There’s a very clear thing of like, “Oh, Eric gets stabbed in the back a lot.” So I was like, “Wow, Eric, you should really fix this so you stop getting so screwed constantly.” 

But my reflections have been that there’s two ways to go about it. You can say, “I’m never going to trust anybody,” and just close yourself off in the world. Or you can choose to trust and believe that people are good, and if they screw you over, it’s on them I think I’m in the latter. So Rob’s betrayal is a betrayal, but I’ve seen worse. I’ve been through worse. I was like, “It’s a game. It’s fine.” And it’s funny.

PEOPLE: In terms of music, who do you dream of collaborating with?

NAM: Recently, I’ve been obsessed with Ryan Beatty. Also Remi Wolf. I love Remi. She’s so fun, and she’s a huge Traitors fan, so when we were doing the last episode, I did a watch party downtown LA with some friends, she came through with her sister, If we’re talking dream-dream, I think Bruno Mars is incredible. If I could be a little barnacle to Silk Sonic, that would be incredible.

Confessions of a Lonely Heart is out now.

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