Sarah Kinsley Releases Her Verve Records Debut “Ascension”
Credit: Julia Khoroshilov
To Sarah Kinsley, her new EP “Ascension” is an eternal and ethereal paradise filled with memories she carries close to her heart. She speaks on the project, saying, “we are ascending to the place where everything is alive, where love is bright and fruitful, where memories last forever.” For those who don’t know Sarah happens to be one of the premier faces of the genre Alternative Pop. Not only is she a talented singer/songwriter, but she is a producer as well, producing all of her own music. Her reason for that is simple; she says “we need to recognize and amplify more female producers" such as herself. After her self-released single "The King" had success on TikTok in 2021, surpassing millions of views, she also released her debut EP titled "The King." Kinsley successfully followed up the project with EP “Cypress” in 2022 and is now back with her Verve Records debut, "Ascension."
“I’m always trying to innovate new sounds within my songs. The feeling of being at home with my instruments is irreplaceable,” she says. “There’s always beauty to be found in the mundane – and seeing how people connect with my music reminds me that I’m on the right path.”
Spending most of her youth in Singapore, and then the illustrious New York City, she was taught classical training for song writing and production. Still a teen, Sarah began recording covers to artist like Justin Bieber, and Julia Michaels and started to post them to her instagram and other social medias. Although she was nervous, and shy at first, she began to receive positive criticism and reviews to her covers, with many compliments on her natural singing voice. In 2018 University Of Southern California did a study determining that only 2% of musical producers are identified as women. Seeing this was all she needed for motivation, as years later she went on to be a Music Theory major at Columbia University challenging herself to become the sole producer of all of her own music from here forth.
“When we talk about producers in an academic sense, we often assume that they are a man. We need to recognise and amplify female producers”
During Sarah’s recent press run, I had an opportunity to ask her some questions about what else we can expect from her musical journey and how living in NYC affects her songwriting process. Check out the interview below and stream her EP “Ascension.”
Sarah Kinsley Interview
Being an artist stationed in NYC, how big of a role does location play in your songwriting process?
“It has a huge role and element. I definitely believe that people aren’t products of their environments but are consequences of culture and place. That has really inspired me; there are places I go to people watch, and without a doubt, it plays a part In who I am and the music I write..”
What else can we expect musically from you for the rest of 2023?
“Oh god, I don’t know. You can expect me to disappear to write and become one with the earth and get outside more as I plan to take some time off. Hopefully, there will be more music releases as well.”
