Candi Carpenter wants every show to rebuild the community people lost leaving church
A woman wears a bikini and gets called a slut. A woman runs for president and gets called the same. Candi Carpenter has done both, and because they are non-binary, the word that came back at them was thing. That is where 'American God' begins in Carpenter's own telling, and it is where the six songs of Reincarnation have been heading all along.
Then comes the turn. "I am my own church."
It is the closing line of the EP, and five words have rarely been asked to carry so much. Carpenter grew up singing in their family's gospel band in a pastor's household before Nashville and the Opry, so a refusal to kneel here comes from someone who once knew every cue of the service by heart. 'American God' is the record at its most confrontational, pushing back against systems that demand obedience and hand people roles they never agreed to play. It is also the one track on the EP whose credits include brass, played by Lorenzo Molina, an extra voice brought in for the final word.
What stays with me is where that declaration leads. A church of one could be a lonely place, and Carpenter plainly doesn't want it to be. The shows they describe are deconstructed church, a cinematic live experience with a crowd singing every word back, and they put the purpose simply: "I want my shows to be a safe space for people who are looking for the community we lost when we found ourselves." Anyone who has walked away from a congregation knows that the hymns and the doctrine were only part of what went, and that the people often mattered most. Carpenter seems to understand that you can reject the pulpit and still want the gathering.
Reincarnation has been out since 11 September 2026, its songs stitched into a short film shot in a warehouse trash dump, with Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's on screen. The co-headlining tour with Moselle opened with an all-star release show in Nashville on September 12 and is crossing the country this fall. Carpenter's hope for each night is a modest one, and a generous one: "My hope is that everyone goes home feeling less alone."
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