KARLESHIA DELIVERS ANOTHER STUNNINGLY POIGNANT SINGLE ‘ALTAR’
Ōtautahi-based singer-songwriter KARLESHIA returns with ‘Altar’, the second single from Karleishia’s forthcoming debut EP CHURCH TRAUMA, due out Friday 30 October.
Altar’ continues the story begun with their haunting, confronting debut single ‘Holy Low’, which went straight into the NZ TOP 20 SINGLES CHART at #13, a remarkable achievement which shone a well-deserved light on this singular, emerging new artist.
Musically, ‘Altar’ sits in the emotive atmospheric space Karleshia is beginning to carve out for themselves, with their distinctive and moving vocal carrying the weight of their messaging. It marks another step into the evocative body of songs exploring the aftermath of losing a faith but gaining a new life and direction through music.
A former worship leader and young adults’ leader who spent years deeply immersed in church, Karleshia knows first-hand what it means to try to make faith, sexuality and the idea of being “holy” co-exist.
Where ‘Holy Low’ confronted Karleshia’s painful experience of being used and pushed aside by their church, ‘Altar’ offers another perspective. In itself, it’s an act of surrender – not of who they are, but of releasing the guilt and the endless internal battle to accept that some things cannot be mended.
Says Karleshia: “‘Altar’ is about what it was like inside a church environment. You’re constantly trying to do all the right things — to be righteous, be holy, pray, have faith and be the person I had been taught to believe I was supposed to be—but eventually, my sexuality kept making me feel like I was ‘falling down’ again and again. I had spent years deeply involved in church, including as a worship leader and young adults’ leader, and in the end I could not reconcile the two. I had to lay it to rest and walked away from it all."
The exhaustion of processing grief made them realise it was more painful to fight than to let it go. There is grief and resignation in that decision, but ‘Altar’ is ultimately about making peace with the fact that some things cannot be reconciled, and discovering that you can still move forward anyway.
It is also a song for anyone who has experienced hardship inside a space of faith, particularly those who have found themselves questioning whether being true to themselves somehow means they are failing God.
Karleshia isn’t bothered with that question anymore, they’re making music.
‘ALTAR’ is available on all major streaming platforms
KARLESHIA - debut EP CHURCH TRAUMA
Stories About Leaving, Healing, And Coming Home To Yourself.
Due out Friday 30 October
SEE KARLESHIA LIVE:
ALIVE AND UNPLUGGED
FEAT. LUCA JOASS, ANAND AND KARLESHIA
Thursday 8 October Darkroom, Christchurch
Tickets from Under The Radar here
KARLESHIA – CHURCH TRAUMA EP RELEASE SHOW!
With
Elizabeth and the Coven Pyrrhic Deborah Wilding
Thursday 5 November Darkroom, Christchurch
Tickets from Under The Radar here