Fertile and profound, uncertain yet searching, Sarah Kinsley's sure-footed songs are a powerful reflection of her ever-evolving self. The trained but intuitive musician, singer and producer expresses her doubts and dreams in the compelling and sometimes ironic alt-pop songs on Ascension, her debut EP for Verve. The EP's five songs, including the shimmering pop of "Oh No Darling!", "Lovegod" and the powerful "Black Horse", were recorded of Kinsley in her New York apartment recording studio. She did everything herself: production, synthesizers, midi drum programming, guitar and strings - even a spare slide guitar. In her songs, Kinsley provides wonder and weirdness, both musically and lyrically, and with her cinematic videos. (In middle school, she wanted to be a director.) But Ascension reveals a maturity and thoughtfulness that belies her youth.