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Photo: Dillon Matthew

Certified indie darling Sarah Kinsley has finally returned to her impatiently awaiting kingdom to gift listeners with a new soundtrack to heartache—her latest single, “Last Time We Never Meet Again.” The single announces Kinsley’s debut full-length album, Escaper, due for release on September 6 via Verve Forecast. 

Tiers of strings commence the song, unfurling a quick, rhythmic pattern that spins with a whimsical intention. Kinsley slowly builds the soundscape, coaxing cellos to lilt in the low end, grounding the motion of the intro strings. An added bass guitar twists the palette, its bounce lending the final piece of buoyancy to the pop sensibilities of “Last Time We Never Meet Again.” As we enter the chorus, Kinsley lets the track soar, with violin melodies cascading against synth rhythms, merging organic and electronic sounds. 

“The song is meant to be celebratory,” Kinsley shares, “but it’s trying to make something that is really sincerely a goodbye—the closing of all these worlds that you inhabit with the people you love. A celebratory goodbye.”

“Last Time We Never Meet Again” narrates the familiar yet much-less-talked-about outcome of a relationship’s end—where sadness and love persist in equal measure, and that despite your ache to be with them, your shared life has ended. It’s the ending to the fairytale that never sits quite right but teaches the most important lessons, lacing longing with the steady beat of resolve. As always, Kinsley’s vocal quality represents so much of the song’s character. She can deliver a story in just the essence of each syllable, mingling sighed vowels and staccato, over-dramatized breaths for an unmistakably bone-deep delivery. Reaching into a bit of storybook vocabulary, Kinsley performs two impeccable acts of songwriting genius. One, she creates a universally magical landscape in which all listeners can embrace the song, and two, she embodies the youthful innocence of lovers having to make the mature decision to part. 

Kinsley spins the tale of “Last Time We Never Meet Again” with a graceful hand, captivating listeners with what is only the first single off of the upcoming Escaper album—a full-length work sure to be just as magical. 

Listen to "Last TIme We Never Meet Again" below: