From Outer Space To Center Stage: Caroline Kingsbury’s Queer Indie-Pop Takeover
The ‘80s lesbian indie-pop queen spoke with GO about her upcoming EP, ‘Shock Treatment,’ world domination, and hitting the road on tour.
Featured Image: Caroline Kingsbury. Photo by Josh Druding.
When she’s not dazzling crowds as a colorful alien who crash-landed on Earth, or busy “turning people gay,” Caroline Kingsbury is most likely rocking her signature oversized baby pink glasses.
“If I’m not wearing them, I feel naked,” Kingsbury laughs, owning her quirky style.
It’s an early afternoon in Los Angeles when the dream pop diva with a nostalgic heart answers GO’s call, the sun shining on her bleached, braided hair. A glimpse of her bedroom feels like stepping into a 1980s dream. The walls behind her are a retro blue, the kind of shade that makes you want to put on “Blue Monday” by New Order and let it play on repeat. It wouldn’t be a Kingsbury space without a mannequin standing guard, draped in neon green. It’s part fashion relic, part silent roommate, adding a funky Kingsbury twist to the scene.
This isn’t just a bedroom, it’s a living moodboard, a self-built shrine to indie-pop, heartbreak glamour, and fearless self-expression.
And that’s exactly who Caroline Kingsbury is.
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If you’re one of the 57,000 people who follow Kingsbury on social media, you’ve likely heard of her track “Blurry Now,” featured in Episode One of Forever on Netflix, or “Kissing Someone Else,” which went viral in 2024. With its infectious synth-driven hook and Kingsbury’s strong, vulnerable vocals, the song quickly became an anthem for many queer listeners navigating feelings of love and longing. The music video only amplified that connection, an offbeat, striking piece featuring glitchy VHS effects and bold retro lighting. Kingsbury runs in place as she sings, “I can feel your heartbeat while you’re kissing someone else.” It captured the bittersweet tension of desire and heartbreak in a way that felt deeply personal and refreshingly honest.
As a rising force in the world of indie-pop, Kingsbury blends retro aesthetics with raw, emotional storytelling. Her music lives at the intersection of funky ‘80s nostalgia and vulnerability. Think anthemic choruses, lots of synths, and lyrics that hit like a diary entry. She’s offering a fresh take on an old sound, reimagining it through a deeply personal, queer lens. With every track, every look, and every detail—she creates a world that’s unmistakably her own.
With her new EP Shock Treatment nearing its release in September, Kingsbury invites listeners even deeper into her kaleidoscopic world—where heartbreak, joy, and identity collide in synth-drenched cinematic soundscapes. She’s already set the tone with the release of two standout singles and music videos: “Chocolate,” which captures the dizzying rush of queer love while she dances in a hospital gown, and the title track “Shock Treatment,” where she flips the script in a bold, satirical world where conversion therapy turns people gay. Both songs are celebrations of queerness, delivered with Kingsbury’s signature mix of vulnerability and theatricality.
Speaking to GO about the EP, she described it as a kind of emotional time travel, revisiting a time in her life that was pivotal and heartbreaking.
“It’s sort of like going back in time to when I had my first girlfriend and I was experiencing all of these things for the first time, and losing my relationship with my father,” she said. “It was really transformative to be with a woman for the first time, and that led to not having a relationship with my father, which was really tragic and sad.”
Kingsbury grew up in a conservative Christian household in Florida, where queerness was never openly discussed, let alone accepted. Music was carefully fitted through a religious lens, and much of what she longed to hear was off limits. She sang worship music as part of the church band, immersed in an evangelical setting where music was often emotionally intense–and admits much of her early exposure came not from her household but from watching American Idol.
“I listened to a lot of Christian music as a child. As I got older, I was allowed to listen to The Beatles, and I listened to Bob Dylan, because my parents were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s fine. We know that,’” she said before laughing, “But when I wanted to listen to Soulja Boy, they were pissed off about that and wouldn’t let me. But I downloaded it on my iPod. They got hot, and I got in trouble.”
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Opening up about this experience isn’t easy for Kingsbury, let alone making an EP about it.
“It’s vulnerable to talk about. I don’t love talking about losing my relationship with my father, especially because I don’t know how he’s gonna feel hearing me talk about this,” she said. “But at the same time, it’s my truth. This is what happened, and I transformed all this pain into a synth pop song.”
That transformation isn’t limited to heartbreak. While she reflects on her past, she also talks about the present in her latest EP—most notably in a love song dedicated to her girlfriend. It’s a celebration of the relationship she’s in now, a testament to how far she’s come emotionally.
“‘Meteorite,’ is a love song that I wrote about my girlfriend,” she said. “It’s very much ‘80s prom, grab a partner and slow dance, and then ‘I see God in you’, which is sort of the wrapping up of the story. It’s reflecting on all the evil and the good, and how I can find the good in anyone and empathize, versus feeling like everything is so fractured.”
Her growing confidence isn’t just reflected in her lyrics; it’s showing up on bigger stages. Kingsbury recently played her biggest show yet at Lollapalooza, bringing her shimmering sound to a massive crowd where she was supported by her girlfriend, mom, and good friends. Following the release of Shock Treatment in September, she’s heading out to tour with the 80s-inspired pop artist MARIS, connecting with fans across North America, and making a stop at the All Things Go music festival in Maryland this fall. It’s a breakout moment that feels both hard-earned and just the beginning.
“What I’m most excited about is the show that MARIS and I are creating together. We’re not doing a typical co-headliner where one person plays first, one plays second,” she said. “It’s going to be a full two-hour show, there’s no opener, and we’re having the audience do karaoke before.”
It’s a fitting chapter for an artist who built her world—now inviting everyone in, not just to listen, but to sing along.
