The “Fleeting” Nature of Love With Sarah Kinsley
Sarah Kinsley’s latest EP, Fleeting, was released the day before Valentine’s Day, in a move one can only describe as “psychological warfare.” Despite consisting of only five tracks, listening to the EP in order all the way through reveals a clear narrative, using shoegaze, synthpop, and balladry to muse on a relationship doomed from the start. Although in previous singles, there was a more bare-bones nature to Kinsley’s songwriting, this EP involves much heavier production, something that was intentional in Kinsley’s process creating the mini album. “I love ambient music, I love folk music, but also sometimes I love being drowned out by sound,” Kinsley said in a January press conference. Her brand of pop music is both thoughtful and energetic, with influences ranging from Joseph Ravel to Madonna. The resulting experience is a complete immersion in these feelings over the EP’s eighteen-minute runtime.
The opening track, “Lonely Touch,” is supposedly inspired by the 2024 film Queer. The song and the film are both about a doomed relationship, wherein the narrator tries and fails to find connection with their lover. It’s about being as close to another person as physically possible and yet still feeling alone, a devastating concept with a catchy hook.
Credit: Florence Sullivan
“Truth of Pursuit” is my personal favorite, as well as the most synth-heavy of the tracks on the mini album, a brutally honest take on falling in love with the idea of being in love, chasing an ill-fated romance for the sake of feeling alive. The description of romance feels akin to an addiction, a “pursuit of the feeling of you” rather than “a pursuit of you.” “Reverie” is a more traditional ballad, seemingly in response to “Truth of Pursuit.” In the song, the fantasy the singer has been chasing has finally dissipated- the love is there, but the passion is gone, with lyrics like “It’s just a dream, don’t you get it?/It’s just a dream, just forget it,” playing over a mournful guitar solo. “After All,” a slow song with indie darling Paris Paloma, seems to chart the end of this doomed romance. The only feature on the EP, both Kinsley and Paloma’s vocals intertwine as they sing, “I know it ended, I know I chose it, it was in my hands/But if we put the clocks back, could we still have just another chance?” This mournful ballad of love lost is connected to Kinsley’s fear of time passing, which she weaves into much of her musical oeuvre.
The title track and closing song on the album, “Fleeting,” brings to mind songs like Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own,” wiping away tears on the dance floor and providing a hopeful close to the EP. Rather than another flight of fancy, the closing message Kinsley provides is realistic: that although love might be fleeting, so too is heartbreak. “It’s not forever/it’s just a feeling,” she sings, in a moment of catharsis between singer and listener. Kinsley urges listeners in interviews to “take whatever they want to take, I don’t want to prescribe a specific experience,” but her album connects with listeners, providing a sense of shared suffering through her depictions of tortured love. It’s the opposite of a “lonely touch,” a true connection through music.