RENÉE

If you’ve been around the Wellington music scene lately, chances are you’ve come across Renée Burnett. The 20-year-old singer-songwriter from West Auckland has found her stride blending neo-soul, R&B, and Afrobeat sounds; both as a solo artist and a co-founder of College Try.

University

Music has always been part of Renée’s life.  When she was seven her mum signed her up for guitar lessons on her birthday,“that was always something I wanted to do,” she recalls. “But I couldn’t get lessons locally until I was seven.” 

“I started trying to write songs, but I was always really shy, and I didn’t sing much at first,” she admits. “Then at high school, I kept putting myself into indie rock bands, but it never really suited my voice.” 

Renée’s high school band played a showcase at the Tuning Fork in Auckland through Play It Strange. Playing alongside musicians like Luca George and Harry Ingram inspired Renée to follow in their footsteps and study at Massey University in Wellington. There, she discovered artists like Jorja Smith and Olivia Dean and realised that neo-soul just clicked. “It suits my voice, and I fell in love with it.”

Songwriting

Now performing under just her first name, RENÉE, her music reflects her growth—fluid, groovy, emotionally resonant. “My sound has definitely evolved,” she says. “It’s neo-soul, Afrobeat, a bit of R&B pop.” Her debut single Slip Away came together after reaching out to friend and producer Jacob Callwood, who’s been instrumental in helping shape her solo material. “I went to him with a song that was super undeveloped… and now we’ve built a whole catalogue of tracks together.”

RENÉE’s songwriting process is a mix of old habits and new experiments. As a guitarist, she still often starts with chords, but working with Jacob has opened things up. “Sometimes he’ll create a beat, and I’ll just write. Then we do a mumble track, pick out melodies, and build from there.” When it comes to lyric writing, Renée writes mostly about youth and love and being a young adult. “I feel like I find writing is just good for like getting situations or ideas just out of my head and on paper”.

Performing Live

Despite her early shyness, RENÉE’s now confidently gigging across the capital. She booked her first solo performance herself—a support slot at Valhalla—and since then has played several shows, including a recent show with Foley, Dani Josie and Rita Mae to fundraise for the Wellington Rape Crisis, an experience she describes as “very cool, especially for the chance to network with other musicians.”

“People started to flood in about a quarter of the way through my set, and we saved the most energetic songs till last, so the energy was really good by the end.” A standout moment for her was hearing Foley’s live performance of “That’s Life Baby!”, one of their new releases. 

To prepare for each show, Renée has developed a couple of go-to routines to get herself stage-ready. “A new one I’ve started, which I think me and Kloey [Shaw]  have both actually started now, is putting honey in my water,” she says. “It surprisingly seems to help.” She’s also big on vocal warmups, “especially if I’m at Valhalla, I just go into the alleyway. I just take myself out there like 10, 15 minutes before and just smash out my vocal warmups, and then I’m ready to go.”

College Try

Renée’s solo project is not her only musical endeavour, she is also half of the song writing engine behind College Try, a high-energy pop-rock outfit she formed with fellow musician Kloey Shaw. “We met pretty much as soon as uni started. We clicked, we were having these bedroom jams, and we were just so eager to get on stage so we just went for it.”

In the band, Renée contributes more than just music. “I love the marketing and business side too—booking gigs, organising stuff. It’s fun for me.” She admits the difference between the band and her solo work is stark. “College Try is angsty and high energy. My solo music is smoother, more laid back. It’s cool to have both.”

So far, College Try only have one song out on Spotify, but there’s more on the way. “We wrote a heap of songs and were late to start recording,” she explains. “But we’ve started again recently with Kahu [Sanson-Burnett] helping us out. He’s amazing—produces, sound techs our gigs, and we try to pay him where we can, even though he never asks.”

Looking Ahead

RENÉE’s current focus is on her debut EP, planned for release later this year. “We’re aiming for five to six tracks. Right now, we’re just demoing heaps and narrowing them down.” She’s also eyeing up a mini tour later this year, with shows in Wellington, Auckland, and potentially Christchurch.

After finishing up at Massey, she’s looking at further study in Auckland in Entertainment Law, hoping to combine her passion for music with a deeper understanding of the industry. 

You can find RENÉE on Instagram @reneeeemusic and at @collegetryband