Sarah Kinsley – ‘Fleeting’ EP review: Can something be too well made?
In 2021, Sarah Kinsley shot to notoriety when her track, ‘The King’, blew up online. It was a fitting blow-up as her technical skill and mission to use all of that knowledge solely to serve feeling and atmosphere led to something special, and has been leading to special works since. Now, on EP Fleeting, things are glossier than ever – but is that the problem?
The Skinny: Fleeting begins with ‘Lonely Touch’, an 1980s-inspired tune with so much polish and gloss you’d slip and fall on it. It’s stunning, miraculous even, as Kinsley walks the line of nostalgia and freshness with a step so perfect and light that you can practically hear her dancing, and you’re there dancing to.
As a standalone track, it’s staggeringly well-made and represents the best of the artist as she’s continued to evolve and evolve. It also represents the key to her artistry – Kinsley is a Columbia University graduate, she has an Ivy League education in music theory, but she’s applying that hyper-intelligent approach to alt-pop, imbuing everything she does with this glorious high-low feeling.
I’m not at all saying pop is a low. Pop, as a genre, is a cornerstone of everything. But what we have here is an artist with the skills to do anything and everything, and so it becomes interesting watching her apply them to a genre specifically grafted to be accessible and catchy. For Kinsley specifically, all the high points of her career have come through that as she takes niche techniques and technology and then puts them in a pop song, using them all to craft a clear emotional air that is basically impossible to truly explain or understand unless you have that knowledge too. It’s utterly unpretentious, completely enjoyable and yet a total work of mastery – and that’s what makes her great.
‘Lonely Touch’ is the best of that, so too is the EP’s closing single ‘Fleeting’, as the central hook of “you can cut your hair all you want, but you’ll never stop the feeling” digs its claws into your brain and stays there.
However, with two golden teasers on a project so short, it was always bound to be tough for the other three tracks to get involved, and what we have here is a sandwich where the filling isn’t quite as good as the casing.
It’s an interesting one to talk about because across every level, there are really no flaws here. Kinsley is technically perfect with stunning vocal performances on every song, sonic nests that carefully care for the lyricism to keep it in focus, and luscious additions of strings imbued with electronic details. ‘After All’ stands out as a display of that as Kinsley delivers something cinematic alongside Paris Paloma as a featured artist. However, it’s almost as if the film has become too big screen, too glossy, too distant.
There’s something blocking me here. When listening back to her Ascension EP, or her debut album, Escaper, the feelings involved knock me out. Tracks like ‘Lovegod’ and ‘Sublime’ knock me sideways, and I think it’s because Kinsley feels more real there somehow, and the height of her skill set is being used more sparingly, building into climaxes or used as punctuation, rather than soaking the whole project.
Fleeting, in contrast, doesn’t let up much. Both the title track and ‘Lonely Touch’ have that same all-out effect, but when presented now as a full package, it lacks a moment to breathe. In slower or quieter moments, there still seems to be a lot, or even just too beaming of a bright light shining on Kinsley’s genius, which feels insane to say.
The Verdict: It feels wrong to claim that perhaps a project is too good and made with too much ability, but Fleeting somehow lacks a humanity as it lacks a rawness or a moment to break or splinter. It lacks something off the cuff and spontaneous, as instead, it’s polished so much it has so much sheen, but it likes a certain shine.
Standout track: ‘Lonely Touch’
Release date: February 13th, 2026 | Producers: Sarah Kinsley | Label: Verve
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