Sarah Kinsley

Support: FIG

Early show - 8:00pm doors

Sarah Kinsley:

New York's Sarah Kinsley doesn't need much to make a lot. A young but positively old-school musician in her approach, Sarah sculpts smart, era-less pop music and drops it into a very modern world. Her introductory recordings from the magnetic Karma to the cinematic Hills Of Fire, sound bold, bright and curiously fully formed. Glacial yet warm, flamboyant but intimate. Everything you hear is made by a collective team of one; from the layered instrumentation and sultry vocal, to the razor-sharp DIY production. Sarah is an independent bedroom-pop artist in its most literal sense (dreamt, composed and recorded within her student dorm), and is making light work of creating songs that burst at the seams with heart, melody and soul.

With two EPs to her name (The Fall EP and 2021's The King EP), Sarah has quickly accumulated a passionate young fanbase all swooning for these ethereal disco-kissed indie songs, pulsing in technicolour. Snippets of these songs and short self-filmed videos that pull back the curtain to document the song-writing process are regularly shared with a rapidly growing audience on social media. A time-lapse played out in real time of a bright young star being born.

Raised in Connecticut but studying at Columbia University in New York City, Sarah initially found solace in the sonic flamboyance of Kate Bush and the hushed directness of Joni Mitchell. You can find these influences referenced readily elsewhere, but Sarah takes these touchstones and makes something uniquely her own. A storyteller, a romantic, a realist and a dreamer.

And if the somewhat tawdry statement stands that only two percent of so-called 'women in music' are producers, and fewer still produce their own music, Sarah competently joins this unique stable of self-produced indie-minded pop artists, and let's hope she holds that door open for others.

Now, as she moves out of the bedroom and onto the stage, the songs are translating. Backed by a band, Sarah's already wowed SXSW in Texas, and sold out her debut headline show in New York. Hand-picked by NME and Amazon as one of their artists to watch for 2022, and picking up kind words much further afield, Sarah Kinsley is at a crossroads looking up.

A singular new talent for these strange, fascinating times.

FIG:

An artist seeking self-expression with a DIY attitude, FIG turns everyday activities and emotions into creative output. A Malaysian indie pop/R&B artist living in NYC, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter had a breakout year in 2022. She released her debut project, BUD, in November and embarked on U.S. tours in support of dhruv and Tiffany Day. The project has accumulated more than 1.5M streams, and includes stand-out singles "Splinter" and "Pair Of You".

"Phenomenal storytelling and timeless melodies across the board, FIG finds a way to blend fun-loving vibes with experimental indie-pop and R&B flavors," Early Rising praised of BUD. Earmilk added, "BUD offers a wide spectrum of creamy R&B jams, plus a warm, vibrant bass tune that weaves it all together."

FIG began making music in high school, writing and recording snippets to share on social media when she was feeling alone. It wasn’t long before she started writing full songs, which she would design cover artwork for, while directing and editing music videos to accompany them. Prior to the release of BUD, she introduced herself with a pair of EPs, Su Su and The Fluke, in 2020. With a desire for building community, she launched her imprint Cob Stand in 2022, through which she's presented the event series 'A Mini Concert' to spotlight fellow API artists and creatives in intimate settings.