Singer-songwriter Sarah Kinsley brought dance-pop to a sold-out August Hall with her Fleeting EP tour and made the case for her prowess in deconstructing and reforming every layer of sound.
This was personally a very anticipated concert after I began following New York-based Sarah Kinsley from her hit single “Oh No Darling!” in 2023. The crowd was peppered with white, baby blue’s, and black–attentive choices that were clearly part of the uniform Kinsley had organized for the tour on Instagram. Chatting with other concertgoers, it seemed like the crowd was a fair mix of people who listened to a couple of her top songs, or knew every lyric to her discography. Nevertheless, there was noticeable excitement and anticipation that vibrated throughout the packed venue.
girlpuppy (Rebecca Harvey) opened the show with a short and sweet list of songs that bounced between rhythmic indie rock and sad bedroom pop pulled primarily from her 2025 album Sweetness. Amusingly, the band’s choice of footwear seemed to mirror this array in sounds, with her guitarists and Harvey sporting Salomon running shoes, clogs, and knee-high leather boots, respectively. The crowd seemed to be politely responsive with small cheers and applause at the end of each song until the finale to her set. “For You Two,” a raw song of longing for the memories of a relationship now in the distant past, drew the most attention as Harvey knelt on stage repeating the chorus “If I don’t say it out loud / It’s like it never happened.” Perhaps this was the emotional angst drawing together Sarah Kinsley fans and new listeners of girlpuppy.
The stage was filled with enough instruments for a second band to perform alongside Sarah Kinsley’s crew, for a reason. A classically-trained multi-instrumentalist with a background in music theory from Columbia University, Kinsley’s signature style comes from her poetic lyrics and ability to experiment and be creative as a self-produced artist. As a result, she’s become known for a uniquely ethereal pop sound made possible through her handmade, trademark contact mic that makes use of a piezoelectronic sensor to transmute and add gossamery sounds to her voice.
Kinsley bounced onto the stage and opened with one of her most high-energy songs (and my personal favorite), “Truth of Pursuit,” as red and blue lights danced lively around the crowd. For a catalog that cascades between alt-indie anthems and heartbreak ballads, Kinsley’s most recent EP, Fleeting, marks a departure from her more cinematic releases. The dance-pop energy proved even more stark against the venue’s historical 1890s Victorian flourishes. With her teal water bottle at her side, Sarah Kinsley kept the crowd transfixed throughout her 17-song setlist as she orbited between her contact mic and piano and guitar, like a live window into her production process.
Bathed in a halo of lights at the piano, Kinsley lingered between intimate and haunting love songs (“Lovegod”) to dreamy electronics (“Lonely Touch”). The beginning of each song erupted into cheers as fans sang along and seemed to hold onto every word. Polka dots of lights flickered in pink and turquoise as the crowd gave way to jumping and dancing with “Karma,” and Kinsley stretched her hands out toward them as if to mirror the rhythm of the crowd. Kinsley repeatedly thanked the crowd for their energy and support, acknowledging the emotional memories that singing her own songs brought up.
As she launched into a cover of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” it felt as though the four-decade old hit was written for Kinsley, marrying the synth-pop sounds of the 1980s with the 2020s dance music revival. Through it all, her vocals and dances matched the swooning notes that rushed up and down the scale, enchanting every corner of the room.
Sarah Kinsley ended the night with the title lead single from Fleeting. A show full of catharsis and pure joy, I found myself humming to the chorus on the subway all the way back to Berkeley: “It’s not forever, it’s just a feeling / It’s not forever, it’s only fleeting.”
Review and photography by Abby Wang
