Rising artist Sarah Kinsley first began her ascent on Tiktok with her single “The King.” Listeners instantly gravitated to her dreamlike indie-pop sound that fluctuates between danceable and cleansing.
Those fans can once again experience that continuum on her critically acclaimed EP Ascension featuring “On No Darling!” The 5 track project acts as a time capsule bringing listeners back to moments that are just memories.
We recently caught up with Sarah before she hits the road as the opener for Weyes Blood in August and Gus Dapperton in September to chat about the EP and more!
Congrats on the release of your EP Ascension. What was the production process like?
Thank you ! The production process was grueling at times but just so incredibly rewarding. As it always is and probably will be. Lots of deciphering and trying to escape past tendencies and leaning into new things. I’ve been using string instruments in my music for a bit now – there are only so many different textural and melodic things you can do really. It’s like a little game putting the different elements together and trying to create something that still says to my listeners, this is quintessentially me.
How do these five tracks tie together?
They revolve around the theme of “ascension,” which at its heart, I think, is a song about memory – about the place we go to where our love, our relationships, our moments in time live and lie. All of these songs travel through that place, whether through talking about selfishness, childishness, doing things for the sake of running free, love’s desperation, or slivers of time we can never reclaim. Time has been the main theme, the main question throughout all of my lyrics, and this EP comes back to her yet again.
This is your fourth EP. How has your music evolved through the first three, and how does this EP differ?
I feel myself becoming more and more grounded in my music. Building the sonic universe that has been revolving for many years now (through those past EPs), but it feels especially prominent and defined through Ascension. I still use a lot of the same recording elements; I still work almost entirely on my own. It is still me recording in my bedroom closet, mixing in my home, and writing throughout my life. That has never changed.
You recorded some of the album using a contact mic. Can you share what it is and how you have utilized it?
The contact mic is typically used for recording percussive sounds through materials like wood or metal – really anything you want – but I’ve had a lot of fun testing it on my vocal cords. It has that siren quality once mixed with reverb – lots of people online say it might open the door to communicating with whales. Who knows. But it really just gets the sound directly from my throat, which produces a lush, warm, muffled sound.
Do you have a favorite memory from the making of the EP?
I wrote “Oh No Darling!” in Europe in a car. I was sitting in the backseat with some free demo version of a piano app open on my phone. It was incredibly hot and stuffy, and I remember writing the chorus melody in that moment and obsessing over it in my hotel room later until I got it right. I wrote the entire thing in a few days, and it was one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had with my music.
If you could set fans up in the perfect environment to listen to the EP, what do you imagine it looking like?
A giant car with no windows driving through the most beautiful valleys and hills in the world.
You’ll be performing at Lollapalooza in August, and will be opening for Sylvan Esso, Weyes Blood and Gus Dapperton on tour. What can fans expect from those performances?
Hopefully, our opening set presents the duality of man – lots of screaming and dancing and loads of tears and moments of silence. I would love for it to be wild and free and equally intimate and gentle at the same time.
What can fans look forward to next?
Perhaps a cohesive ‘thing’ longer than a fifteen to twenty-minute collection of songs … 🙂
What is one quote that you have heard or that you go by that you want to ECHO out to the world?
To meet another is a small small miracle.
Featured Photo Credit: Julia Khoroshilov