For Taranaki singer-songwriter Renee Millner, to ‘fly back’ is to depart the emotional precipice, to escape the hold of dark thoughts and moods, returning to a place where curiosity replaces judgment and vitality replaces languor. A place where well-being is restored.
“I wrote Fly Me Back during a dark phase”, says Renee.
“I think most people who give themselves over to something they’re passionate about can relate to feeling at times that it’s becoming all consuming. I found myself in a bit of a spiral; trying to find crutches to help me escape those feelings.The notion of ‘flying back’ appealed to me because of the sense that I wanted to return to the person I was before darkness took hold, and ‘fly’ because it implies a freedom that’s so opposite to the constriction of despair.”
The music video for Fly Me Back, created by William King, set in a dystopian urbanscape that’s disintegrating even as we fly slowly through it, provides a fitting visual evocation of darkness, fragility and despair. However, the single is uplifting with an 80’s dance vibe woven through its deft folk-pop stylings.
With two EPs and a recently released single, ‘Out Their Windows’ in her discography, Renee’s capacity for expressing raw emotions with intense vulnerability is well known.
“The point,” says Renee, “is that sometimes we feel like we’re in the grip of something dark and malignant, when really it’s us that’s doing the gripping. And if, in those moments, we can release our hold, we create room for lighter, healthier things to enter.”
“If we want our lives to be expansive and fulfilling, we have to take part in expansive, fulfilling things.”