Kyle Carey – “For Your Journey” (audio) (premiere)

Celebrated singer-songwriter Kyle Carey is set to release her fourth studio effort, The Art of Forgetting, on 26 January. The album will release through Riverboat and is currently up for both physical and digital pre-order. Predating the LP’s release is the serene “For Your Journey”, a gospel-inspired track that defines the term “short but sweet”.

Additionally, joining Carey on this tune is none other than fellow Americana artist Rhiannon Giddens. She offers another layer of evocative, emotional depth through her gorgeous harmonic performance. As always, Carey’s music is in part about acknowledging our historical roots. Her nearly spiritual collaboration with Giddens on “For Your Journey” only furthers accentuating the song’s inspired origins as an ambiguous nod to the Bible, Greek mythology, and the Underground Railroad.

“I wrote ‘For Your Journey’ with a gospel theme in mind, but wanted the song to remain ambiguous enough to be read on a few different levels,” says Carey. “For that reason I wove in Biblical imagery, references to Greek mythology and allusions to the Underground Railroad.”

“Looking at the song from these angles the ‘North Star’ could be the Star of Bethlehem, Jordan the river Styx (or the Mississippi), and the ‘hound a baying’ tracker hounds or Cerberus. The inspiration hearkens back to a time when a simple gospel psalm could have been used as a code for an escape route. It was a great honor to have the talented Rhiannon Giddens join me on this track.”