American singer-songwriter Sarah Kinsley will be releasing her debut album, Escaper, on September 6, 2024. The album consists of a 12-song tracklist which includes her singles "Starling" and "Last Time We Never Meet Again."
What has writing and producing this album taught you about yourself?
Sarah: Oh my god, there's too much to say. I think a huge part of this album is about the process of escape. I wrote the majority of the songs while I was dealing with different forms of grief and loss, from friendships, love and family. I think a huge theme of this album is who do you become when you need to escape. Where do you go when you don't really want to exist in the real world anymore. The first half of this album is about that imagined world of the places that we go to. I kind of learned about myself as a person that exists outside of my music and what I require from art and music in order to keep going in healthy ways. The testament to music as the form of expression that is very necessary to move through grief or to understand yourself is very much held true for me. I learned alot about the more vulnerable or darker sides of what moving through that process looks like but it was very needed for me. Very refreshing to sort of come out of that.
What is the biggest message that you want people listening to this album to get out of your music?
Sarah: Sometimes I don't know the answer to this question because I never want to tell people what to think when they listen to music. I always feel like individual interpretation is the greatest gift of music. The fact that so many people can live with songs and it could mean entirely different things, stories, and different threads of humanity and what we think about and do. The album is called, Escaper, but my realization through making a lot of this music and through the story of this album is that escape is necessary. It’s a need for survival but at the end of the day, there is something beautiful about choosing to engage with the world and live in it, and love it even with flaws. The sort of character that I'm writing through or the person I'm inhabiting through this record kind of realizes eventually that love is still worthy, and that humanity is worthy of our attention and participation. Even with flaws and darkness and it's sort of sappy but I feel like that's the sort of decision and final place I come to in the record of like you are worthy of love and love is worthy of you. A dual realization but I would love it if that comes through on the record. How do you foster your connection with your audience and fans and How does their energy influence their performances?
Sarah: Their energy is so symbiotic. When I play shows I really feed off of how people are. As someone who cares a lot about people and wants people to enjoy themselves. But also someone who is a perfectionist with shows, I want the show that you come to see and bought a ticket for to be incredible. I feel like the connection I've been finding through playing more and more shows. It's very fun to engage with people during a show. The expectations are higher in a way for shows now and I don't know where that comes from. I've been finding that engaging with people during a show is really incredible to sort of feel this bond between me and the audience. The last time I went on tour, we started bringing this sampler pad with us and we sampled the audience and had them sing into my mic as a crowd. We’d be sampling 600 voices singing one note and it would be threaded into the next song we would play. It gives people a real sense of accomplishment because you've all managed to sing this note and participate in a way that's very natural and organic to the music because it leads directly into the next song we would play. That's definitely one way I've enjoyed becoming slightly more intimate with the crowd than just playing the music.
How did you decide on Escaper for the title of the album?
Sarah: I think when I wrote the song, that word just made the most sense. It clicked kind of immediately. I love what it represents, someone who is destined to leave but also someone who will return. It reminds me a lot of Past Lives, the quote of him saying “If you are someone who leaves and I love you because you are someone who leaves,” that influenced me a lot as well. At least the theme of that. Escaper, the noun, also was very influential to me. What's a tour stop you're excited to perform songs from Escaper for?
Sarah: Honestly I can't lie, I'm incredibly excited for the entire tour! I'm very much itching to get back on the road. I feel like I've had a really nice break and I just miss the shows to be honest. We're going to a lot of cities I've never been to before. When I played in Germany last, the crowd really surprised me. For some reason, I just wasn't expecting such immense energy and were playing 3 dates in Germany so I'm excited for that. I'm really excited for some cities in the US as well. I haven't been back to LA in a while and we're playing 2 nights at the Troubadour which is kind of a dream so I'm stoked for that. I live in New York so Webster Hall is also unbelievable and unreal. I'm excited for every date.
Which song on Escaper are you looking forward to playing live the most?
Sarah: I’m really excited for 3 in particular. "Starling," which we’ve played live once or twice so I'm excited to play that again because it's so much fun live. The song "Knights" because it’s really quite wonky and I think it takes the listener for a spin. It's quite unexpected and also the subject matter is very tied to how the song makes you feel. The way that it bursts and explodes with anger. The last song I'm excited for is "Last Time We Never Meet Again." It's one of the songs from the album that people will know the most and feel comfortable with.
Pre-order and pre-save Sarah Kinsley's debut album Escaper HERE