Q&A: Hope and Healing Flow Through Carsen Gray’s “Sweet Deliverance”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
Photo Credit: Patrick Shannon
A SWEET DELIVERANCE — Canadian Indigenous singer-songwriter Carsen Gray transcends boundaries between faith and self-reflection, heartbreak and renewal. Following her 2023 gospel-twinged album Praise Sah’Laana, sung in her native Haida language, Gray returns with Sweet Deliverance, a seven-track body of work that feels intimate and expansive all at once.
Where Praise Sah’Laana celebrated spiritual connection and cultural reverence, Sweet Deliverance turns inward towards healing. The project builds upon the emotional depth of her previous album Misadventures, but this time, the focus feels softer, more contemplative.
The standout track “Aches and Breaks” serves as the album’s emotional centerpiece. Meanwhile, songs like “Brave Boy” and “Hardest Things” highlight Gray’s gift for turning hardship into hope. Her lyrics carry the listener through moments of struggle and into the light.
“These songs came from a place of surrender,” Gray says. “They’re about letting go, finding peace, and trusting that deliverance can come in unexpected ways.”
Rooted in her Haida heritage, Gray continues to infuse her work with a deep sense of identity and purpose. Even when she’s not singing in her ancestral language, the values of her culture, community and spiritual connection flow through her melodies.
Across seven songs, Carsen Gray reaffirms her ability to blend folk, soul, and gospel influences into her work. Sweet Deliverance is a reminder that even through heartache and uncertainty, beauty can still rise.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
CARSEN: I grew up singing a lot of R&B music with my late uncle, Bobby Taylor. He has quite a rich musical background, one of the first artists signed to Motown long ago. He's a family friend of my dad's, and my family let him know that as a young girl, I had a passion for singing, and I used to do a lot of local shows around my hometown, and my parents told them that I wanted to start singing. I think a lot of my influence and a lot of the songs that I used to sing come from a R&B, old gospel, Motown sound. I don't make R&B music, but I find that's just the way I grew up singing, so I fuse that into what I'm doing currently.
LUNA: You just released your newest EP Sweet Deliverance and huge congratulations! Sweet Deliverance feels like a natural continuation of the stories and emotions explored on Misadventures and Praise Sah’Laana.
CARSEN: Terry McBride, the CEO of Nettwerk, shared his opinion on my voice. He said that I have a really good sound and a unique sound to my voice, and feels like my vocals would stand out on a more stripped down, laid back type of vibe. Because prior to doing more singer-songwriter music, I was in the R&B pop realm, but I think he was right when I look back and listen to my songs. There's just a lot going on in pop music and I like how open the music is and it leaves room if you want to bring in your R&B vibe in there. I just really came to appreciate singer-songwriter folk and cute acoustic music over the last few years. I'm really excited to finally be able to make that type of music. It also feels more fitting to my personality, like I'm a more quiet, introverted type of person, so it just feels more natural for me as well.
LUNA: What inspired you to move in this more stripped-down, acoustic-driven direction? What themes or emotions do you explore?
CARSEN: In the creation process of the project, I wanted to share the difficulties that I've gone through in life, and even recently, but how I face those difficulties with my faith. The whole project is rooted in the faith and how forgiveness is so important, loving unconditionally and pressing into your faith for strength, but it's not outwardly a gospel project, but I wanted to put my faith and how I'm feeling into the songs, but also make it more relatable, gentle, and easy listening for those who aren't Christians.
LUNA: What lessons did you walk away with from creating Sweet Deliverance that you’ll carry into future projects?
CARSEN: To not be so afraid, to lay it all out there and get deep, and put myself out there more in my music, and just be more honest. Because I was a little bit more shy to share or write music around my faith and Misadventures and the first EPs that I put out, but I'm feeling more comfortable to find a nice blend of faith and singer-songwriter elements.
LUNA: Did you take any creative risks or experiment with new approaches on Sweet Deliverance compared to your Praise Sah’Laana album? What felt different this time around in how you expressed yourself?
CARSEN: I would say just really getting comfortable in the booth and letting the emotions flow, not being so much of a perfectionist. I find when more emotions are involved, it's not always going to come off perfect and flawless, and that's okay, and people appreciate hearing the emotions. Maybe if I'm belting something, it's not that great, but it's how I was feeling at that moment, so just the freedom to just let it flow.
LUNA: Do you have a personal favorite song on the EP — one that feels closest to your heart or most revealing of who Carsen Gray is right now?
CARSEN: “Aches and Breaks,” because it talks about how love overcomes evil. Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with love. When you know when you're going through tough times or people hurt you, I know it's so hard, but moving in love and forgiveness is what got me and does help get people through difficult times.
LUNA: How did you celebrate the EP release?
CARSEN: Pretty laid back. I didn't have an EP release party, but just listened to the songs with my family and had a chill night relaxing, ate some good food and we're just vibing.
LUNA: What’s fueling your fire right now — musically or personally — that’s pushing you into this next chapter?
CARSEN: I feel like I've found my sound and my comfort and my place in music right now, and just the type of music I'm putting out has gotten me more excited to see how this EP has done so far, fueling me for the songs that are going to be coming out next.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners — especially women — resonate with Sweet Deliverance? What do you want them to take away from it?
CARSEN: The simple message of love and forgiveness, that's basically what it's centered around. If you can, no matter what you're going through, those are the fruits that are really going to help you — Fruits of the Spirit — that are going to help you push through and get through and help you with your healing beautifully.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would love to share with Luna?
CARSEN: I'm super excited. I’m grateful to have a home studio and the freedom to be able to go and create whenever I feel like it. I'm pretty busy at home as I'm a stay at home mom slash musician, so my kids at home keep me super busy as well. I'm looking to a pretty chill, cozy vibe this winter. Don't have a whole ton planned in regards to shows or anything like that, but just reflecting on this release and planning for the next project that's to come, probably going to start recording in the next few months.
