On the heels of the release of her successful new album Crying On Holidays, critically acclaimed indie pop artist Kingsley has announced that she is taking the listening experience to a whole new level with the launch of a companion Podcast, a signature cocktail recipe book, and a lipstick collection inspired by the record’s first three singles.
The “Crying On Holidays, Album Tell All” Podcast, which made its debut in late June, offers a deeper dive into what critics are hailing as the singer-songwriter’s “most honest and deeply personal record to-date.” During the show, Kingsley takes listeners through her journey of falling in and out of love, how this inspired such powerful songs from the album as “Therapy,” “I’m Fine” and “All Me” and how the experience transformed her into the strong, empowered woman that she is today. With a mission to help others find their “inner bad-ass,” Kingsley’s Podcast offers insight, as well as laughter, and a few cocktail recipes from her new book Drinking On Holidays to shake things up!
“I wanted to do something special after the album came out,” said Kingsley. “It is always a low, depressive, ‘what next?’ feeling after you release a project that took your two years to create. So, I thought a Podcast would be the perfect way to take listeners through my own journey while having some fun along the way!”
Drinking On Holidays, which features 11 recipes with each corresponding to a track on Crying On Holidays, was written by Kingsley and Karen Khounthavong and illustrated by Diamond Turner and is available at https://www.iamkingsley.com/shop. Created to be a “synergistic listening experience,” to enjoy while listening to the album, each drink was hand-selected by Kingsley and Khounthavong to “give fans insight into the record’s who, what, when, where, and how it was written paired with the drink that I felt summed up the song perfectly,” said Kingsley.
“I got the idea for the book after demoing my album back at the start of 2019 with my friend who loves to make me cocktails and talk about music,” said Kingsley. “We wanted to have a listening party and just share drinks with close friends and super fans. But, because of Covid, I had to get a little bit more creative and thus the recipe mixology idea bloomed.”
In addition to the Podcast and cocktail book, Kingsley has also partnered with Event Cosmetics to launch the Kingsley Lipstick Collection By Event Cosmetics. Featuring three colors – each inspired by her first three singles from Crying On Holidays “I’m Fine,” “Therapy,” and “All Me” – each shade was created with the intention of inclusiveness of every skin color.
All three colors were designed to be worn alone or mixed, matched and layered to create an individualized look.
“I am honestly so excited to bring these [lipsticks] to the world. I want to spend the rest of my life making sure every single person, no matter who they are, shows off those luscious lips with my products,” said Kingsley.
Kingsley’s Collection is available for purchase and ships anywhere in the U.S. on Kingsley’s website iamkingsley.com/shop.
For more information about Kingsley’s music, visit iamkingsley.com and Social Media: Facebook: Kingsley Music Instagram: @yokingsleymusic Twitter: @yokingsleymusic
About Crying On Holidays
Crying On Holidays is Kingsley’s sophomore release featuring her three hit singles “I’m Fine,” “Therapy,” and “All Me” plus seven additional tracks. Receiving rave reviews for her honest and diverse songwriting, including Music Mecca’s Linsey Rotter who says Kingsley is “creating her own genre with a distinct and unique sound,” Crying On Holidays is much like the artist herself – creative and whimsical while being vulnerable and raw at the same time.
“This album is about my first love: the good, the bad, and the ugly crier. It shares my side of the story, of course, and is an open-ended record that will leave my fans wanting to know more,” Kingsley said. “I used the music to reflect my mood and the lyrics as a coping tool to help me sort through the mess I found myself in. As I see it, enjoy life … because it’s okay to dance and cry at the same time!”
Kingsley turned to Sean Berahmand of Sunset Digs (Portland, Oregon) to record, mix and master the record to help give the music the complexity and dimension that she was seeking. She also enlisted Producers Jack Mortensen, Jarrett Tracey, Aaron Schmidt, Thomas Shipley and Tim Karplus and collaborated songwriting with Haley Johnsen (2012 American Idol Top 25 Contestant) on “All Me” and Ashley Kervabon (Founder, CEO #Womxncrush Music) on “I’m Fine.”
The official track listing for Crying On Holidays is:
Intro
You Didn’t (Remastered)
Changed
All Me
Loving You
Breaking Still
Therapy
I’m Fine
All Me Featuring Haley Johnsen
You Didn’t (Acoustic)
Life After You (Live)
While Kingsley’s new album is garnering much-deserved attention, she has been pushing the limits – musically and personally – since she first broke onto the scene in 2017. Since that time, she found herself at the forefront of Portland’s fierce, female-led underground music scene with her hit single “Ghost” and subsequent EP I Am Because I Am (2018) and has been hailed as an artist who has “crafted a sound that transcends genres and challenges expectations (PRP).”