EP Premiere: Caroline Kingsbury’s ‘I Really Don't Care!’ Is an Irresistible Celebration of Caring Too Much

Rising pop star Caroline Kingsbury creates a space for connection and celebration on her irresistible new EP ‘Really Don’t Care,’ a seductive set of five sparkly, cinematic pop songs that capture her heart, her soul, and her humanity.

for fans of Carly Rae Jepsen, Chappell Roan, Rebecca Black

Stream: “Our House” – Caroline Kingsbury

Caroline Kingsbury’s new EP opens on an undeniable, irresistible high note – both literally and figuratively.

“What if I told you there’s a paradise here on earth? Baby babe it’s you and I,” the indie pop artist sings over pulsing drumbeats and strutting bass guitar lines. Within seconds, she creates in her music a space for connection and freedom, where all are welcome and embraced for who they are. “In our house, just you and me,” she proclaims in a dazzling chorus, “They say we’re crazy, but baby we’re free!” It’s a celebration – an effortless euphoric embrace of herself, her community, and the wider world as she knows it.

Life isn’t always easy, but there are still plenty of reasons to smile – and on I Really Don’t Care, Kingsbury pours her heart and soul into five sparkly, cinematic pop songs that express just how much she really does care.

HINT HINT: It’s a lot!

I Really Don't Care! - Caroline Kingsbury — I Really Don’t Care! – Caroline Kingsbury

Find what you’re missing and
Get what you need
Don’t have to stay
and you don’t have to leave
You got bad weather
Come and get some relief
Don’t let your pleasure
Make you feel like a freak

In our house our house
Just you and me
They say we’re crazy
But baby we’re free

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering I Really Don’t Care!, fifteen nonstop minutes of bold and breathtakingly passionate indie pop that will have audiences dancing like no one’s watching, singing like no one’s listening, and smiling uncontrollably from ear to ear – because this isn’t just feelgood music; it’s feelgreat music.

Caroline Kingsbury’s first release on LA-based indie label music is fun (also home to CARR, Kareen Lomax, Dead Pony, Fourth Daughter, Latroit, and ONR) arrives three years after her critically acclaimed debut album Heaven’s Just a Flight definitively put her name on the indie music map, receiving praise from Pitchfork, Under the Radar, Atwood, and dozens more publications – with our very own Dimitra Gurduiala declaring her a “star” and premiering the record’s lead single.

Caroline Kingsbury Presents an Album That Would Make Madonna Proud

:: INTERVIEW ::

The three years since that record’s release have been filled with personal and artistic growth; as Kingsbury brought that record to audiences far and wide, at the same time she was figuring out who she was above and beyond those sixteen songs.

“I put out my debut album Heaven’s Just A Flight in 2021, and a lot of life happened before I even released that album,” she tells Atwood Magazine. “My brother passing away, COVID, family estrangement…. and the three years after that release were frankly so incredibly hard, I truly didn’t know if I could continue to do music in the same fervent capacity I had since I turned 18.”

“I kind of hid in my debut record,” she adds. “Vocally and visually, I didn’t put too much attention on myself because I truly was so uncomfortable in feeling proud of myself and putting myself out there. I was really afraid of rejection. With this EP I just gave up on trying to be perfect and just make the music that was naturally coming out of me at the time. My debut album is a perfect piece of art for me… it captures so much in so little time. It captured my life from 2017 – 2021…like pre-coming out, to coming out as a lesbian. It had to work so hard to cover so much ground with that record, and with this EP, although creatively it was a hard process for me just because of the life challenges I was experiencing, I didn’t have to work so hard for the songs to be good. I trusted myself that they would be. I trusted in my talent and my hard work to take me there. I knew myself better. I loved myself through it.”

**Self-love, love of the craft, and a love of music itself all contributed to I Really Don’t Care!‘s creation story as Kingsbury found her voice anew.**

“At the beginning of 2024, I was really feeling lost in my life, my relationship with my art, and with my career… [But] I just turned 29, and this is the first year I feel like my hard work, sweat, and tears finally is paying off, which is a crazy thing to be able to finally say!” she smiles. “This small body of work is me letting go and enjoying the process for one of the first times in my career. I didn’t obsess and give myself a heart attack over the small things. I just let my trust fall into the skills I know I have… and I am so proud of myself for trusting myself enough to let go and make this EP a reality …with the help of a lot of friends, family, and community pushing me to keep going even when I wanted to give up.”

I Really Don’t Care is the same Caroline Kingsbury fans have adored for years now, and yet it’s unlike anything we’ve heard from her before. The songs pull from ‘80s dance pop, new wave, indie rock, and more as Kingsbury asserts herself not just through her stunning vocals, but through a shimmering, spellbinding array of instruments that steal the spotlight in the best way possible. Simply put, this record feels fully realized not just from a singer/songwriter’s perspective, but from a full band’s perspective.

Caroline Kingsbury © Lissyelle Laricchia

Kingsbury teamed up with Charlie Brand (of Miniature Tigers), Justin Tranter (Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Chappell Roan), and Ryland Blackinton to bring her songs to life.

“This EP began with Charlie Brand and I writing ‘Alabama’ together after I found him on Instagram, after having listened to his band Miniature Tigers obsessively for years,” she recalls. “My vision was honestly scattered throughout this whole creative process, but I knew I loved Charlie’s vision and I wanted to get into his head a bit and see what vision we could create together. Charlie and I spent like a year periodically working on music in his tiny hilltop studio… the vision became clearer to us both the more we pushed ourselves. We didn’t know if we were making an album or an EP or just singles, but we just kept at it… and I Really Don’t Care! was born.”

“I also worked with the incredible producer and writer combo Ryland Blackinton and Justin Tranter on ‘Take My Phone Away’ –a song I wrote with them a couple years prior, after being discovered by Justin’s team at a random show I played in NYC. Justin has coincidentally written some of the biggest queer hits of 2024, and ‘Take My Phone Away’ coming out right now just kind of blows my mind that it all lined up. To sum it up, a lot of happenstances and random occurrences made this happen, and sticking with your gut and your vision is always better than following the trends.”

albino Alabama
excuses hold the power
you were a child
watching man walk on the moon
a photo of your dad
shaking hands with George Bush
rebelled smoking weed in your room

bleach ’80s coiffure, hair like a rocker
studded leather over business suits
you were watching the future
on a grainy tv on the floor
of your parents living room

do you see the wind
blow through the trees
do you feel my heartbeat
flowing through the leaves in Alabama

The journey from EP opener “Our House” to closer “Take My Phone Away” is as intoxicating as it is utterly exhilarating, with each track offering another moment of catharsis, emotional release, and pure revelry. Kingsbury candidly describes the EP as honest, paranormal, and familiar; though it was born from heartbreak, its songs don’t ache; they glow.

She also cites a number of personal highlights when it comes to the creative process itself.

“Writing ‘Fly Too Close’ with my favorite guitarist of all time Izzy Fontaine – he’s the master of ‘80s sounds and truly brought this song to life for me in a way that I could only dream of!” she says. “Writing ‘Take My Phone Away’ with Justin Tranter and Ryland Blackinton two years ago, right after I got my big lesbian heart broken… working in Justin’s Facet House studios with a songwriting legend and Ryland’s amazing ‘80s production sensibilities. The long days and late nights at Charlie Brand’s tiny hilltop studio. Nannying my little love Lily, and watching her go from baby to toddler while finishing some of these songs as she napped… Excitedly showing her parents that you can find my songs on Alexa… My coworkers at the restaurant I’ve worked at the last two years, and excitedly showing them the songs that were being made… Dreaming and hoping they’d one day take me out of the restaurant (to my complete surprise… they did!)”

She continues, “Meeting and working with my creative director Jen Sanchez and Roscoe Flevo at Wethem.us and shooting with legend Nas Bogado… the long days and nights in their creative studio filming and shooting! Shooting with Lissyelle for the EP cover – she shot my debut album cover as well as the press photos from that time, and to shoot together in a more professional capacity this year on this project was such a dream come true! Getting signed to my first record deal and having an all-queer team I work directly with at my label has been beautifully mind-altering, and makes me feel hope for the music industry after all… Meeting my manager Mal Bailey six months ago before the deal even came through, and us being so stressed about how we’d find the money to even put this project out. And now here we are six months later, with a record deal and vinyl coming out with this EP! A lot has happened since I wrote these songs and it has been largely so insanely positive. I just can’t believe it!”

As Kingsbury sees it, this EP no longer belongs to her; every release involves a form of surrender and giving away, and she’s never been happier to release her music to the world and watch it grow, evolve, and become a part of other people’s lives.

“These songs aren’t mine any more; they’re the listeners’ songs now,” Kingsbury shares. “I hope they feel seen and heard and comforted…I hope they apply their own life experiences and meanings when listening… and that they can cry and scream and jump to these songs for decades to come.”

Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Caroline Kingsbury’s I Really Don’t Care! EP with Atwood Magazine as she shares her “non-traditional” track-by-track walkthrough of her brand new release!

— —

:: stream/purchase I Really Don’t Care! here ::

:: connect with Caroline Kingsbury here ::

— —

‘I Really Don’t Care!’ – Caroline Kingsbury

:: Inside I Really Don’t Care! ::

— —

Not so long ago, I lived somewhere very, very far away. I awoke one day covered in dirt and my skin turning bright pink. My spaceship crashed in a place called… Alabama. I felt very lonely there, but glad to be far, far away from the one who broke my heart. I felt like a new girl showing up to this strange place.

I started gathering supplies and found many friends on the side of the road, discarded and dirty, just like me. The silver tinsel and party hats awaited them, and Ms. Billie Holiday sang sweetly as we all danced the night away. It was nice to feel a little bit like home could be possible here.

I like to sit on the side of the road…the one with the view of all the lights. I watch the human’s vehicles zoom by haplessly and I wonder, did I fly too close to your love? Did I take too much all at once? It seems no matter where I try to go to get you out of my mind, I can’t escape your memory. It seems you are my shadow.

I know I really shouldn’t care. I know. And sometimes I think I don’t. Sometimes I really have escaped you.

Ring ring ring.

You’re calling right now.

What should I do? Do I pick up? Do I let you go, or do I pick up the phone?

— —