Sarah Kinsley Feels that Time is Fleeting, But Ever So Alive
- Aliyah Hinckley
- 12 hours ago
- 7 min read
“Coming home so late after something that was so moving, I think I remember I went dancing or something—I don’t remember even where I was, but it was so late at night and I had just the most ridiculous night ever and I was so exhausted,” Sarah Kinsley smiled, recalling a vivid memory during a press conference in January ahead of the release of her newest EP Fleeting, explaining how she gains inspiration for her music.
“There are various specific moments, I feel, in life, where you really feel your entire self in your body, and especially when I move, I feel that. I remember feeling like my feet hurt so bad, and I was so exhausted, but I also just felt so euphoric, and I felt like I had reached this kind of catharsis.” Kinsley continues retracing a memory during a tough, busy period in her life, plagued with countless late nights, when she finally remembered to slow down and just admired the sunrise. She reminisces on quiet moments between the sweaty rush of album preparation as “a feeling that I really only ascribe to living in the city.” That feeling of constant, ever-changing experiences that make you feel alive while living in New York—The City That Never Sleeps—became “seeped into the EP,” Kinsley said. The visual world of her EP features city lights, city silhouettes, and late evenings.
The feeling of that memory Kinsley recalled is quite a succinct description of the music video for “Fleeting,” the final track off her EP, which came out today, February 13. As you listen to the exciting, dancey 80’s electronic synth pop, your body will begin to move, whether you’ve experienced those feelings in her lyrics or a memory. Remember to live in the moment, as everyone’s time is fleeting.
As a singer-songwriter and producer, Kinsley returns with a five-track EP including songs titled “Lonely Touch,” “Truth Of Pursuit,” “Reverie,” “After All (with Paris Paloma),” and “Fleeting.” A month ago, she made an Instagram post, sharing that these are “songs for desire, for yearning, for dreams, for finding one’s way through love.” From her first EP, The Fall, she wrote about the fear of time passing, and in her debut album, Escaper, she travels to another realm away from the reality of time. Kinsley shared that this EP digs into impermanence and living or falling forward into the fleeting moments, as they can be both euphoric and cathartic. There’s an underlying message of letting the future reveal itself or letting people reveal themselves to you.
Kinsley explained that she has an ever-growing fear of time passing, something that many people can resonate with. She thinks about it all the time, and therefore, time permeates throughout all her music. “I think time, weirdly, as you get older, just feels like you have less of it. I think when I was like age eight or nine, I thought that I was nine for years, you know, like I felt like I experienced time so much slower back then. But that is something that I just think about constantly and shows up in a lot of different ways in my music.”
When it comes to how she hopes the songs reach listeners, she said she just wants them to listen and feel how they want to with their own context and personal experiences. “I want people to take whatever they want to take from my music, like I don’t want to prescribe a very specific experience…I’m just grateful that people feel anything towards the music at all.”
Being classically trained and a lover of classical music, Kinsley learned rules around music-making that were “intense,” held up to a professional standard. She grew up playing classical piano and participated in a cappella during college. She talked about now stripping back or unlearning what one has learned and going back to having a childlike wonder by hearing and responding to all the sounds around her, eventually coming to find what she truly wants to share with the world.
Kinsley is known to share her music-making talents on her social media, like TikTok, using a contact mic, synthesizer, and keyboard to create her songs on the spot. Production-wise for Fleeting, Kinsley shared, “With this EP, I think I’ve been digging in a lot deeper into texture and sort of building out the sonic world of a song. I think sometimes I’m definitely a very maximalist producer, like I love to just fill a song with a lot of elements, but it’s very key for me now to just be very intentional with why I am including something. Something becomes more cinematic or becomes more evocative when you choose really specific sounds and textures.”
With the pre-release of her two songs “Fleeting” and “Lonely Touch,” Kinsley’s music has been described as “cinematic pop.” She reflected on this, sharing that in her music, there’s a bridge between her classical background and alternative pop through her enjoyment of film scores. “It sounds so cheesy, but making music that scores your life is such a big dream and goal for me,” Kinsley said.
She has gained influence from watching films and listening to The Blue Nile’s Hats: specifically the track “Let’s Go Out Tonight,” which stuck in her mind. She listened to Blood Orange and New Order's Substance when writing her EP. ”Those three artists totally found their way into my bloodstream at some point,” Kinsley said. “I think when you listen to music so much, there’s definitely a part of it that seeps into your subconscious in some way. And that was definitely happening for me.”
Kinsley has always been vulnerable in her music. This time, she’s continuing to be honest about her tumultuous emotions. It’s another level of understanding herself and her experiences. When she first began writing songs, she mentioned writing ambiguous lyrics so as not to share too much of herself. But now with this EP, she feels free to heal and be honest in her lyrics; most of the lines are free of double meaning because they are so truthful. “And there’s still some metaphor and instances of protection with words that I use for myself,” Kinsley said. “But it’s a level of vulnerability that I’m really not used to, but am enjoying a lot. It’s sort of forcing me to come to terms with things that maybe are harder to heal in conversation, but easier to say in songwriting.”
Kinsley is very proud of “Lonely Touch” as it was the first song she made for Fleeting, and it became her favorite. Jake Aron, Kinsley’s producer and collaborator, understands her and how her brain works. “I felt so bad for my collaborator Jake, who also mixed it, because we packed so much into that song. And I was like, don’t even think about getting rid of anything. I was quite stern about it. But I’m very proud of that one because I think sometimes I love listening to music that is really, really quiet sometimes, and I love ambient music. I love folk music, but also sometimes I just love noise, and I love being kind of drowned out by sound. And the outro for ‘Lonely Touch’ [is] just packed with so much.” The instruments and sounds represent yearning and desire, the kind that exists when you witness something from afar, just a short thrill.
When it comes to other songs, Kinsley is excited to share “Reverie,” a ballad, as it was another favorite. In the opening verse, she warns listeners, “Hold back when you fantasize / You might go too far and build a life / You can't step away from.” Later, in the post-chorus, her ascending vocals feel like they’re pulling you out of a daydream—lifting you higher as you float through the instruments’ beautiful chaos.
This EP marks Kinsley’s first collaboration with Paris Paloma, whom she has yet to meet in person. “After All” captures love as a memory that lingers, almost like a regret, stripped of hope. She was grateful for the opportunity, and this collaboration held weight as she was inviting someone into her music world for the first time.
She evokes a freeing sense of being lost in the music and fully present in the moment, as seen in the music video for “Fleeting,” even though the lyrics remind us that nothing lasts forever. From “Truth Of Pursuit,” she wrote her favorite lyric, “I can’t deny something between us [changed] / I felt the sea, and [now] I’m standing in the drain.” Kinsley portrays that stab-in-the-gut feeling of coming down from desire after pursuing something or someone, and feeling a huge change of emotion. Her expressive dancing in “Lonely Touch” further captures an emotional depth, while the fullness of the production surrounds listeners.
With her biggest headlining tour to date–Fleeting Tour 2026 across North America and the UK–fans can expect to witness this same immersive experience live. For Kinsley, sharing a concert space where thousands of people gather to enjoy music feels timeless. In those moments, boundaries dissolve, and walls come down. She spoke about locking eyes with people in the crowd and seeing their reactions to a song, watching as different timelines converge. A song written in the past is performed in the present, while fans bring their own memories and emotions into the space. Together, Kinsley and her audience will create a shared experience that lingers long after the show ends. It will become a mutual, wordless exchange—something deeply spiritual and doubtlessly unforgettable.
What excites you about Sarah Kinsley’s new music release? What’s your favorite song from Fleeting? Let us know in the comments below or by reaching out to us on Instagram or X.
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Edited by Michelle Leung
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