A year after his last release, Kochi-based singer-songwriter Jeremiah de Rozario is back with a new single, Believer’s Curse. Unlike the gentle ballads that built his name, this song marks a definite shift. It is louder, faster, and perhaps even restless.
“It’s still hopeful,” he tells TNIE, “but not as naive. I wanted it to be more raw and honest.”
Those two words, raw and honest, run through this new work. Jeremiah, who once worked as a banker before turning to music full-time, says the song reflects the change he has gone through personally and musically.
Indeed, for much of his early career, Jeremiah’s songs looked inward: family, home, private ache. This time, the stories reach out. “The earlier songs came from a place of naive hope. I used to think everything would just fall into place. Now I know we have to work for what we want. No one’s handing it to us,” he explains.
The new track is built on that understanding. It opens his forthcoming four-song EP, The Heart Showcase, due early next year. “Each song represents a part of my heart,” he says. “Believer’s Curse is about resilience. The others speak about love, self-reflection, and a kind of tempered hope.”
Unlike his previous, softer soundscapes, the production here is stripped down yet alive and pulsing. “We kept it minimal so that the words and melody could breathe,” he says. “The energy came from frustration. The arrangement tries to capture a believer’s thoughts, which are noisy, chaotic, but still holding on.”
That paradox, faith as both salvation and burden, sits at the heart of Believer’s Curse.
“There was a point where I questioned if I’d made the right choice leaving my job,” he admits. “I was looking for something to blame. That belief and conviction that I can be a musician drives me, but it also traps me. It’s a gift, but it’s also a curse.”
This internal conflict also mirrors the struggle of being an independent musician today.
“Money’s still a big factor,” Jeremiah says. “Streaming services pay almost nothing, and most venues prefer cover gigs over original music. You can make all the songs you want, but taking them to people is still tough.”
Still, he calls the messages from listeners “a big win”. “People say the lyrics hit hard. That keeps me going. But there has to be balance; some cultural or financial impact that lets you continue,” he says.
He looks to fellow indie artists as proof that persistence works. “They’ve found ways to stay relevant without losing authenticity. I just need to find my version of that,” Jeremiah adds.
And aiding that journey is his upcoming gig to promote the latest EP: at French Toast, Kacheripady, from 6pm on October 26. It will bring both old and new material together, a snapshot of the road so far and the one ahead.
It’s been five years since Jeremiah left the corporate world for music. This EP isn’t a grand statement or a milestone, he stresses. “It’s more like a signal that things have changed. The sound is different, the mindset is different. I’m still hopeful, but it’s quieter now. It knows where it stands.”
