Single Review: Not OK

New Zealand based Australian singer-songwriter Renee Millner has an ethereal voice that carries a gentle strength through the bars of a rhyme in a way that brings otherworldly artists Annie Lennox, Sinead O’Connor, and Dolores O’Riordan to mind like kindred spirits.

Within moments of hearing her new single Not OK, Renee whispers something beautifully familiar in my ear, and her melodies carry me away somehow to Scottish Highlands I have never seen before.

I love songs that let you get lost within its embrace – like a lyrical balm for the soul.

This is that kind of song.

Not OK feels like a reassuring hug from a best friend when your world’s falling apart – telling you everything will be alright when all you can see is doubt.

Recorded with Sam Johnson of Rhythm Ace Studios and mastered by Chris Chetland, Not OK’s plaintive lyrics are thoughtfully entwined with dreamy layers of vocals, guitar and piano that add to the song’s wistfully reflective tone.

“Love is all we have in this game”

With fragility and grace, it is an empathetic soul who wrote this lyric – sensitively written words offering those who listen a sense of comfort and understanding… a breath of fresh air in a world of uncertainty.

Speaking of songwriting, Renee says “Part of the inspiration came from focusing on what really matters – the loved ones in your life. It’s also a reminder that you never really know what others are going through, so to move through the world with awareness and kindness.”

I have been listening to Renee’s Not OK on repeat since I first heard it and look forward to doing the same with her upcoming EP Fly Me Back which will be released later this month.

Renee writes and sings as a compassionate wanderer of this world like some kind of Earth Angel, and it seems to me we could really do with more folk like her in this game we call life.