new music: the epistle of zyaire rosier explores the conflicts within faith #soundcheck

I’ll be honest: my ears tend to glaze over preemptively when faced with music with overtly religious themes. Art to me is a process of making sense of the world, and the least interesting art is that which self-righteously proclaims: “just follow me! I have it all figured out!” But there’s something special and rare about Zyaire Rosier’s The Epistle of Zyaire Rosier: doubt, hope, and a need for redemption that vastly outweighs any desire to proselytize. (Not to mention some dope classic Golden Age production and a serious storytelling ability). So that’s five things I guess.

By Nathan Leigh, AFROPUNK contributor

“But don’t quote me them testament verses / I’m far from perfected” Rosier confesses on “God Bless.” Despite the title, the only person Zyaire Rosier is really preaching to is himself. When faith is practiced honestly it’s aspirational. No-one ever completely lives up to their lofty ideals, whether derived from religion, philosophy, or cobbled together from their own sources. Throughout The Epistle, Zyaire Rosier declares his inaptitude to cast that first stone, while bemoaning society’s disqualification from the same. To his credit, he never exempts himself from the social criticism he spits throughout the album, whose most compelling moments always come when he’s quick to point out the conflicts within his spirituality.
The Epistle of Zyaire Rosier is streaming on Soundcloud and available for free download through the player above.