Candi Carpenter drops ‘Reincarnation’ EP

Candi Carpenter has already lived several musical lives; a queer, autistic singer-songwriter, producer and multidisciplinary artist, their journey began far from the stranger alternative pop universe they inhabit today. Raised in a Christian Missionary Alliance pastor’s family, they were a gospel prodigy who grew up performing in churches across the Midwest with their family’s gospel band, The Carpenter’s.

After leaving high school and moving to Nashville, Candi toured with Grand Ole Opry legends, achieved a Billboard country single and eventually made their own Grand Ole Opry debut. That history has given Grand Ole Opry plenty to leave behind, with the late Dolly Parton calling them “one of the greatest singer-songwriters I’ve ever heard, bar none,” while Brandi Carlile, a former producer and collaborator, has praised their voice and storytelling.

Rolling Stone described Carpenter as a devastatingly direct singer with an axe to grind, while To The Point Music dubbed them a once-in-a-lifetime talent. Performances on BBC 2, Good Morning Britain, TLC and NBC, alongside hundreds of millions of social media views, have only added to the story. But Candi is no longer interested in simply extending that story and following 2024’s alternative pop record Demonology, embraced by fans as an indie cult classic, they return with Reincarnation, a six-track EP that takes their music, filmmaking, acting and world-building somewhere entirely new.

Thematically, Reincarnation is about dismantling and rebuilding, where ideas of toxic religion, identity, sexuality, healing and mortality collide across a genre-blurring project that asks what happens when inherited beliefs no longer define who you are. Candi’s experience growing up evangelical sits at the centre of the record, particularly the process of reconstructing a sense of self after leaving that world.

Reincarnation is less about returning from death and more about recognising that identity is constantly in motion for Candi. Their belief that the body is continually changing becomes a metaphor for personal transformation, with each day offering another version of the self. The EP consequently becomes an artistic shedding of old identities and an experiment in discovering what might exist underneath them.

The songs themselves function as different realities, set up by the title track which considers identity and constant change, while “Little Freak” turns capitalism and disposability into an intriguing meditation on love. “The Fear of Being Human Remains” finds consciousness itself more frightening than death, wrapped up in a dark pop soundscape brimming with moody vocals and engrossing rock-inflected instrumentation.

“Inside the Simulation” questions reality through the anxieties of Candi’s evangelical upbringing, while “Biblically Accurate Angel” confronts sexuality and shame through the collision of religious fear and beauty. Closing track “American God,” the EP’s final act of rebellion, rejects systems built around obedience and imposed identities as Candi arrives at the most direct expression of self-determination, “I am my own church.” The project also features Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s, who appears in the short film and describes my own church as a voraciously creative, one-of-a-kind treasure.

This autumn, Candi Carpenter will take Reincarnation on a co-headlining cross-country tour with Moselle, beginning with an all-star EP release show in Nashville. Their live world is set to deconstructed church and a cinematic experience, but beneath the spectacle sits the same purpose that drives the record, creating community for people searching for something they lost. Candi has already been a gospel prodigy, Opry performer, Billboard country artist and alternative rock shapeshifter and with Reincarnation, they’re doing something more radical than returning to the past, they’re leaving it behind, choosing what survives, and becoming someone else once again.

Listen to Reincarnation below