
In my review of the EP by Long Island, I mentioned Tilly Kingston and thought afterwards that no one here had reviewed this EP when it was released in the second half of 2024. I don’t know much about Kingston other than what I have been able to piece together online. She is based in Lichfield, United Kingdom, and this is her first EP. She grew up surrounded by music according to my research with exposure to 60’s and 70’s music as well as punk and emo. She has developed her own pop-punk style which could comfortably allow her to share bills with the likes of the Dollyrots, Yungblud, Bilk, Olivia Rodrigo, or State Champs. At around 18 or 19 years of age, she has released a fresh-sounding EP that lays a nice foundation for her to continue to refine and develop as an artist.
The title track has a modern sound with a lot of production, which might be the biggest drawback on the EP for me. I would prefer a rawer production style but think this is probably a generational thing, as this sound could sit comfortably on the radio. She incorporates some raspy screams during the breakdown which serve as a nice counterpoint to the melodic vocals in the song. She covers a lot of musical ground across these 6 songs with this being the ‘heaviest.’ She turns from this to a very melodic POP rock song in ‘Best Break Up Ever.’ I could see lots of people singing along to this song if she was opening for artists like Simple Plan or Lolo. While not my favourite genre, I really like this song, and she has packed an addictive chorus here that would make a lot of inroads on pop radio. This transitions to one of my most listened to songs of 2024- ‘Youth is Wasted.’ This one pushes to the pop-punk genre and contains another massive hook. She includes some terrific double-entendre lyrics in parts of the song. Again, this song should be garnering mass play on modern pop and rock stations. The song feels like a celebration and acts like a natural rush of adrenalin.
The second half of the EP begins with the acoustic ‘Too Broken.’ It is nice to get a song that shows vulnerability in her voice, and I love how her voice expands as the song goes. Again, the diversity in material here really gives her a lot of latitude in where she wants to go. Electronic beats and a modulated vocal usher in ‘Off My Meds.’ This is another hook heavy POP-punk song that could create some great singalong moments at the more commercial pop-punk festivals and would feel at home on a State Champs album. ‘Happy Now’ closes out the EP with another great vocal that gets to shine in the verses and leads into a chorus built on an uplifting hook. Again, this is another one that would seamlessly fit into modern pop or rock stations.
I am interested to see where she goes from here. She has demonstrated she can pack a song with massive choruses designed for the masses. The only song that really misses me is the opening track. As I see artists like Yungblud and Lolo garner lots of press and support from the likes of Kerrang, it would seem a natural that Kingston should connect with those fans in a big way. I would love to see a release down the road with some stripped back production to showcase her voice. After spinning ‘Youth is Wasted’ again and again over the past many months, I recommend checking out this release if you are open to the more mainstream pop-punk sound. I look forward to whatever she has up her sleeve next.
‘Fairytales & Horror Stories’ is available now.
Author: Gerald Stansbury
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