I would suggest expanding the storage with a fast USB drive like: https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-128GB-Extreme-Solid-State/dp/B08GYM5F8G/

You can also move Kodi's userdata to external storage using an advanced settings xml but that may hurt stability if your drive is not SSD.

Vlc is about as light weight as it gets but no artwork afaik. If vlc can't play it, your tv (Sony, TCL?) is too underpowered and you will have to get another device.