Understanding Love with Sarah Kinsley
Words & Interview by Josie Lyttle
Photography by Elise Abotomey
PLEASER caught up with the singer in Australia to chat about her latest EP Ascension
Entering the foyer of St. Barney’s Church, Sarah Kinsley’s angelic voice embraced us from all sides, saturating the room with its powerful and rich timbre. Sarah’s sound is beautiful and soulful. Her new EP Ascension embodies this and more; a timelessness that can only be understood by experiencing her music yourself.
Warm and softly spoken, Sarah Kinsley accompanied Pleaser’s Elise Abotomey and I into a small office space, decorated with paper butterflies and scribbled with drawings reminiscent of a classroom designed to appeal to First Graders.
Side by side on the couch, we eased into the conversation before we started the interview. It felt comfortable and effortless despite the fact that Sarah and I are worlds apart (a humble 15,979km between Sydney and New York City). Her music trajectory seems only to be on the up and up and her talent is endless. As our conversation developed organically, we managed to dissect both the high and low-brow parts of Sarah’s world.
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PLEASER: I'd love to know what inspires your music, where does your inspiration come from?
Sarah Kinsley: Big question to start! I think really recently with this last EP it’s inspired by relationships and understanding love and time. Whenever I talk about my music it always comes back to time in some capacity, I feel like I struggle with understanding how things change and the passing of time and how I perceive myself through that. That endless questioning and wondering really inspires the music I write—It’s needing to know things I’m never going to have the answers to. As a perfectionist or someone who needs to be in control, it’s impossible to know.
P: How did your creative process for Ascension differ from previously, how has it evolved over time?
SK: I think I’ve started to really question myself more now when I write, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. I think self-doubt can either produce really great art and creativity or really hamper what you do and how you think. I was really picky with my writing for Ascension. I would write songs really fast on other records and feel an immediacy — you write something or capture something and you know it possesses creative power…I would have that feeling (with Ascension) but feel way more involved in needing it to be really perfect and absolute. That was an interesting process to go through… most of the time I’m very ‘let loose’ and just allow the thing to come out of [me], but this time I [really felt the need] to be in control and needed it to satisfy me on another level. I don’t really know what that means but I still really enjoyed the process.
P: Do you think it pushed you creatively?
SK: Yes totally. I think a lot of my writing has been about trying to be as vulnerable as possible and this time was absolutely still about that but it was, like, how ambiguous do I want to be? How clear do I want to be? What kind of intent do I have with how I’m writing? Sometimes editing yourself can be really frustrating but in this case, I found it nice to go back and revisit things and hash through them. It’s definitely been a longer process.
P: If you could write the soundtrack to any film, what film would you like it to be?
SK: Recently, Pride and Prejudice was added to US Netflix and I love that movie. I love really great romantic movies. I think romance movies are just amazing. I think more men should watch romance movies and I think as young people we should adore them. I love Pride and Prejudice. I love a period piece. I love Portrait of a Lady on Fire. I love Sabrina, the one from the 90s. I don’t think these films are revolutionary but the core of [them] is the power of love or attraction and I love the kind of music that those movies have. They are so orchestral and cinematic and just really grand. It’s heartthrob material — very effortless but very dramatic and almost a bit over the top. I love music like that, I listen to music like that. You know those scenes where you watch the lovers finally kiss and it’s the most beautiful symphony you’ve ever heard? It’s cheesy and corny but I think it’s one of the greatest things to exist.
P: PLEASER has just released its Fan Issue, so we’d love to know if you’re a fan of anything at the moment.
SK: I don’t know if I’m a part of any fandoms at the moment because you have to be really dedicated and devoted to people — you have to give a lot of yourself to be a true fan which I respect a lot. Recently, I’ve been a big fan of Mitski’s new album. I’ve been a fan of ABBA since I was a kid and one of my favorite bands of all time is the Cocteau Twins. I love them so much, their music is very iconic and very godly. I revere it a lot. I don’t know enough about the front woman Elizabeth Fraser but the things I learn about her are very random and the fact that they have normal lives and live in Scotland and still make music but the band has dissolved, I’m very intrigued by it.
P: Finally, what is your relationship with your fans?
SK: I've been so shocked by the humanity that I encounter online because the internet can be such a horrible place. It’s such a hole. It’s a thing that wants you to keep digging into itself but I also think that the internet, and social media, in general, is a really wonderful place for music. I feel like I’ve been introduced to so many artists and so many people in general who have a passion for music. I have a lot of love for people who listen to my music, I get the sense that they know me very well and they are very gentle with their time. I do my best to try and read what I get from people— it’s so nice that they take the time to do that. I get really sweet messages about people who attach the songs to a point in their life [and] they’ll say “I was in this relationship” or “I lost a friend recently” or “I’m going to school” and they feel so free to just talk about their lives and what my music has to do with it — it's already such a privilege to know that people even allow my music into their lives. I feel very close to people in that way, even though the internet is such a cold and stale place sometimes, its really refreshing and people are really funny and sweet. It’s hard as young people to have a good relationship with who we are online, everyone has a persona, everyone presents and performs and it’s tough, but it’s been good so far. <3
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Ascension, Sarah’s new EP, is beautifully crafted — the title track is filled with vocals and piano that are bold and electric, casting an ethereal shine on beautiful lyrics that showcase her creativity as an artist. The 5 track EP flows seamlessly, following Sarah along a journey that speaks to something we are all too familiar with; looking back on our youth with hindsight.
