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 out now 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
w/ Luca Joass + Anand + Karleshia
Thursday 8 October @ Darkroom, Christchurch
Tickets from UnderTheRadar
KARLESHIA – CHURCH TRAUMA EP RELEASE SHOW!
w/ Elizabeth and the Coven + Pyrrhic + Deborah Wilding
Thursday 5 November @ Darkroom, Christchurch
Tickets from UnderTheRadar
Photo Credit: Jarome Warbuton
