Photos by Florence Sullivan, courtesy of Sarah Kinsley and °1824
To celebrate her highly anticipated upcoming EP, Fleeting, alt-pop visionary Sarah Kinsley and °1824 hosted a press conference that I had the pleasure of attending on behalf of UCLA Radio. This year is shaping up to be a momentous one for the 25-year-old artist with a new EP and an accompanying world tour on the way. As someone who has been following her journey since 2022, it’s exciting to see Kinsley garnering more attention as she expands her artistry. With her latest singles “Lonely Touch” and “Fleeting,” Sarah Kinsley has definitely proven herself to be one of the most promising artists of 2026.
Kinsley grew up playing classical piano and is very grateful for that background, but quickly recognized the limits it imposed when it came to writing her own songs. She described her intuition with pop music as “a wolf inside you that you’re fighting.” When she first started writing, it was a balancing act of trying to identify what felt creatively innate versus what felt like intrusive thoughts to bend the rules. It’s clear, though, that Kinsley still has a deep appreciation for classical and impressionist styles, and considers her musical foundation a good “counter-voice” to utilize when writing or producing. She found that her first bridge between the classical world and contemporary genres was film scores, and treasures the fact that her music is categorized as cinematic pop. It’s always been a big goal for Kinsley to “make music that scores [her] life,” and she has achieved this triumphantly with her latest project.
While Kinsley’s debut album Escaper focused on the relationship between chasing fantasies and confronting emotional vulnerability, Fleeting embraces the euphoric feelings of impermanence, written in the back of cabs amidst the chaos of late nights in New York. She listed The Blue Nile and Blood Orange as some inspirations that “seeped into her subconscious” while making it, and revealed that this was the longest period of time she’s had to sit with a piece of work before releasing it. I’ve appreciated feeling like I’ve grown with Sarah’s music, and have noticed that with each endeavor, she carefully unravels a new layer of lyrical intimacy. She found that this EP contains her most open and candid works, and no longer feels the need to use metaphors and ambiguity to shield from saying exactly what she means. With almost no double meanings in the lyrics, she’s unlocked a new level of understanding herself with Fleeting, which made the entire creative process extremely cathartic.
Sarah collaborated with writer and producer Jake Aron on this EP, who she also worked with on The King back in 2021. She described finding him as a magical experience, and that they very quickly both understood how each other’s brains functioned and interpreted music. When it came to Fleeting, the two leaned into playing with a variety of sonic textures through maximalist production. She said that her favorite track, “Lonely Touch,” was one that they packed a lot of different sounds into. She envisioned the song’s production entirely surrounding the listener and having a gradual build, but prioritized being precise and intentional with her choices in order to do so. She also discussed working with alt-pop artist Paris Paloma on the ballad “After All,” which is a duet contemplating the weaknesses of love. Paloma was the first person Kinsley invited to enter into her world of songs–a world she’s protective of–but said that working with Paloma was a very moving experience. She’s excited to hear another voice singing on one of her works, and to hear listeners’ reactions to the song.
Sarah is known for her innovative use of contact microphones, and I was able to ask her about how she started using them and how she implemented them into her artistry. She recounted first learning about contact microphones from a production and audio engineering professor she worked with while at university, and was immediately drawn to how they can record a unique additional layer of sound, as well as their actual physical appearance. She researched more about them, finding videos online of people recording insects within trees or wrapping them around their necks to record throat singing. She was fascinated by how a contact microphone can capture the heartbeat of auditory landscapes, and even made a few of her own microphones while in college. Kinsley continued to experiment with them in projects like Cypress and Escaper, resulting in a variety of synth-like, magical sounds that sustain the sonic world-building she cherishes. While she didn’t use contact microphones as much when recording Fleeting, they’ve been a very crucial tool to the exploratory nature of her songwriting, performance, and production styles over the years.
The Fleeting Tour is Kinsley’s biggest headlining tour to date, kicking off in March with several stops throughout the U.S., the UK, Canada, and Ireland. To Kinsley, touring is one of the most special parts of a project. She feels very lucky that those who enjoy her music and attend her shows “tend to be very nice people,” especially because her performance style is very dynamic and immersive. She really tries to gauge energy from the crowd, and values creating a visual and musical world for audiences to wander into. She believes that the spirit of every night is different, and is very eager for these new releases to join and interact within her sonic realm.
Check out Sarah Kinsley’s latest single, “Lonely Touch,” off her upcoming EP, Fleeting, out February 13!
