Raised in a Christian
Missionary Alliance pastor’s family, Carpenter performed in churches across
the Midwest with their family’s gospel band. After dropping out of high
school and moving to Nashville, they toured with Grand Ole Opry legends,
landed a Billboard country single, and made their own Grand Ole Opry debut.
The
EP responds to growing up evangelical and rebuilding a sense of self
after leaving that world. Carpenter says: “I make art to peel myself
back, like the bananas and apples rotting on my kitchen counter. This EP
was my chance to try on the genres I wasn’t allowed to explore growing
up in the church.”
The record expands into a
visual short film, with a music video for each song filmed over a week
in a warehouse trash dump. The EP is set in a zombie-filled garbage world.
Carpenter calls its aesthetic a “filthy rainbow.” The EP features Jane
Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s, who appears in the film.
This
autumn, Carpenter will co-headline a cross-country tour with Moselle,
beginning with an EP release show in Nashville on 12 September.
Carpenter says: “I want my shows to be a safe space for people who are
looking for the community we lost when we found ourselves. My hope is
that everyone goes home feeling less alone.”
