'Renee's songs have the beauty and deep emotional entanglement of the singer/songwriter genre, but to tie her down to that limited space would miss the pervasively expansive threads from which she weaves her wonderful music.'
'When you're working with a talented artist you're not really working, you're sculpting air, you're breathing music, and you're breaking hearts. That's what working wtih Renee is like. She's an artist and her music is the breathing of air and the breaking of hearts.
It's the deepest pull of the tidal flow that tugs you off your feet, leaves you gasping for oxygen, but happy to do it all over again.'
Graeme Woller - Producer - In The World
Renée is a self-confessed nomad: Sydney-born and raised, she also lived in Melbourne, rural NSW and a Japanese backwater before moving to New Plymouth.
Along the way were solo travel adventures, the first through rugged Bolivian mountain ranges in 2008. It was there she found her one constant traveling companion: the beloved acoustic guitar that also features heavily throughout In The World.
But since arriving in New Plymouth it’s the journey inward that has most absorbed Renée.
“Choosing to live as an artist pushes you into places that can be devastatingly uncomfortable,” Renée explains. “I’m so often forced to confront my own fragilities that I can’t help noticing fragility in others. Sometimes there’s nothing more I can do with that than tell a story. It feels like I owe it to myself, and to everyone who’s struggled with love, and doubt, and meaning, to tell those stories with absolute vulnerability.”
It’s that vulnerability that makes her songs so relatable. However deeply personal they are, they all touch on themes that are universal and inescapable. Who hasn’t struggled with doubt, and the search for meaning? Who hasn’t felt displaced, or wondered if they’re going in the right direction – or going anywhere at all?
Renée’s reflections on these themes are delivered with an honesty that’s sometimes agonizing. Yet the musical journey In The World takes us on is far from grim and certainly not one-dimensional; along with stellar musicianship there’s a scrupulous attention to production value that elevates this new album to an exhilarating level.
Moving between New Plymouth, Sydney and Melbourne music circuits regularly, Renée has played festivals such as Taranaki's Festival of Lights, The Seddon Festival, Melbourne, Devonport Folk Club in Auckland, The Rogue Stage, Rotorua, and The Inland Sea of Sound Festival in Bathurst, NSW. In mid 2017, she was also invited to be a part of PEAK Festival in Perisher, NSW.
Throughout 2018, Renée has continued to build her profile in both markets, through touring and with a steady focus on writing and recording new material. She was recently awarded project funding by the New Plymouth District Council as part of their Creative Communities initiative, and collaborated with a diverse cross-section of the community to create the music video In The World.
Along the way were solo travel adventures, the first through rugged Bolivian mountain ranges in 2008. It was there she found her one constant traveling companion: the beloved acoustic guitar that also features heavily throughout In The World.
But since arriving in New Plymouth it’s the journey inward that has most absorbed Renée.
“Choosing to live as an artist pushes you into places that can be devastatingly uncomfortable,” Renée explains. “I’m so often forced to confront my own fragilities that I can’t help noticing fragility in others. Sometimes there’s nothing more I can do with that than tell a story. It feels like I owe it to myself, and to everyone who’s struggled with love, and doubt, and meaning, to tell those stories with absolute vulnerability.”
It’s that vulnerability that makes her songs so relatable. However deeply personal they are, they all touch on themes that are universal and inescapable. Who hasn’t struggled with doubt, and the search for meaning? Who hasn’t felt displaced, or wondered if they’re going in the right direction – or going anywhere at all?
Renée’s reflections on these themes are delivered with an honesty that’s sometimes agonizing. Yet the musical journey In The World takes us on is far from grim and certainly not one-dimensional; along with stellar musicianship there’s a scrupulous attention to production value that elevates this new album to an exhilarating level.
Moving between New Plymouth, Sydney and Melbourne music circuits regularly, Renée has played festivals such as Taranaki's Festival of Lights, The Seddon Festival, Melbourne, Devonport Folk Club in Auckland, The Rogue Stage, Rotorua, and The Inland Sea of Sound Festival in Bathurst, NSW. In mid 2017, she was also invited to be a part of PEAK Festival in Perisher, NSW.
Throughout 2018, Renée has continued to build her profile in both markets, through touring and with a steady focus on writing and recording new material. She was recently awarded project funding by the New Plymouth District Council as part of their Creative Communities initiative, and collaborated with a diverse cross-section of the community to create the music video In The World.