Inside her hyperpop transformation and the power of self-obsession.
Melbourne-based artist Renee Naccari has shed her skin, trading dreamy alt-pop for a raw, seductive, and unapologetically chaotic new sound.
This transformation, sparked by a pivotal vocal surgery and a life-changing decision to dye her hair red, marks a profound shift from seeking approval to embracing her true self.
Her new mantra, “Embrace the Chaos,” is a manifesto that fuels her high-energy hyperpop anthems like the recent ‘OB$ESSIVE,’ a track celebrating self-worship and fearless individuality.
By channelling personal vulnerabilities, including her experiences with BPD, into creative power, she crafts a sensory universe where listeners are invited to feel every high and low, transforming emotion into a potent, liberating form of art.
Happy: What’d you get up to today?
Renee Naccari: Today I taught pilates and spent some time in the sun tanning before I sat down at my laptop to catch up on emails as I was just away in Bali at a songwriting camp, where I got to write a bunch of my own music as well as cor-write on a few songs with some very talented artists & producers.
Then spent the evening with my dad watching horror movies (that’s our thing)
Happy: Tell us a little about where you’re from, and what you love about it!
Naccari: Well I’m from Melbourne, specifically living out in Doreen (everyone calls it the sticks but it’s still technically considered metropolitan).
What I love about Melbourne? Well I honestly think it’s the most creative city, we have so much art & music and culture, every collection of suburbs has its own style, lingo & reputation.
The food in Melbourne is unmatched, soooo many restaurants to always discover in little nooks & crannies of the city & suburbs.
The nightlife is by far the best, we don’t have to stop partying (unlike other states where the liquor licenses end before 3am), we have some pretty legendary clubs here, not that I go out as much as I used to but nights out on Chapel Street are definitely a key memory of my late teens to early 20’s, both partying and working as a bartender (for about 5 years on chapel). I’ve been clubbing in other states of AUS and they’re just not up to the Melbourne standard.
We also have a pretty big hustle culture here, and whilst some might see that as intense, I love it. So many people that you meet are doing multiple jobs because they want to get somewhere or do more with their lives.
People are driven here, they want to achieve and it’s very inspiring, as I myself work as hard as I can to give myself more resources in order to support my music career.
Happy: Your new era is described as a transformation from “dreamy alt-pop” to a “raw, dark, and seductive” sound. What was the catalyst for this powerful artistic shift?
Naccari: So my last album “222” was all about self-discovery, at the time of writing most of these songs and in the process of releasing, I was also evolving at the same time.
I had always tried to fit in my entire life, do the blonde hair thing, the “clean girl” makeup/aesthetic… honestly something that I’m naturally not.
I was trying to put forward this positive, lighter, happier energy, which I am happy, but I have struggled a lot in my life, emotionally and I’ve kept a lot inside.
So just before my album was released and about 70 days out from our release show that we had been practising and setting up for, I was told that I had a vocal nodule on my left vocal chord and was needed to go into surgery as soon as possible as it was actually quite severe and was impacting my other vocal chord.
This crushed me, we worked so hard and then I just had to stop.
Funnily enough I started talking to a guy (I was bored and had to stop working due to surgery), which I was purposely not wanting to do before I found out about the vocal nodule as I wanted all my energy to go into my music.
Anyways, after my surgery we were talking and the conversation of hair color came up and I said “I’ve always wanted to dye my hair red” and he said “why don’t you” and I said something along the lines of, “well people might look at me and think i’m unstable or think that i’m a little bit crazy because it’s a bold colour, no one will take me seriously” to which he replied “I thought you don’t care about what other think about you? Who cares? If you want to do it, you should”.
So yeah I dyed my hair, and became super empowered with that decision realising that I don’t want to keep trying to be someone else, I don’t need to seek approval from others.
That is when the shift happened, I dyed my hair red and stopped limiting my songwriting and myself. I really embodied that fact that I am that chaotic friend, the one that always has something happening in their life, with the crazy stories, the one that does things for the plot, the one that feels emotions intensely.
I deal with intense mood swings every day, I can just be super chaotic and I like to write about it. I naturally have a .. let’s say playful (some may say seductive) persona, I like to wink at a stranger from across the room.
So once I realised all this, It made it easy for me to shift into this new era because I wasn’t stepping into a new character I created but I was stepping into myself, accepting myself, the good, the bad, the cheeky (the sexy) but also the deeper & darker side of my life.
Happy: The phrase “Embrace the Chaos” is a central theme for you now. What does that mantra mean in your daily life and creative process?
Naccari: What this mantra is for me, is a reminder. It’s like this saying from a children’s book my parents used to read to me, ‘we can’t go under it, we can’t go over it, we have to go through it’ (We’re going on a bear hunt).
That’s what Embrace the Chaos means, it’s a reminder to stop pushing it (emotions/trauma) down, you need to feel it in order to release it or learn from it, you have to embrace that it is now somewhat apart of you and if you want to let go of it, you have to first acknowledge that it is there.
It also means, girl just have fun, we are literally on a floating rock, do whatever the fk you want, send that message, cry it out, scream it out, dance it out, if that’s what you wanna do, just do it, stop hiding, just embrace yourself.
Happy: ‘OB$ESSIVE’ is a “high-energy hyperpop anthem of self-worship.” What was the inspiration behind focusing on this theme of self-obsession?
Naccari: Funnily enough the song actually started off in a completely different direction musically & lyrically.
I was being super dramatic, sitting under a blood moon and journaling, and was thinking about how much energy & time I actually spend caring about some peoples opinions or always putting others before me… like a lot.
I thought, damn girl if I spent all that time working on my music and my career, imagine how much I can do. So I sat there and made an oath to myself that I would become obsessed with myself, not over another boy or trying to win someone’s affection/attention and I started writing the lyrics for this track.
Now let me tell you the lyrics sounded super witchy at the beginning but then somehow I came up with this hyperpop chorus, then I brought it to my favourite producer Nat J Sherwood.
He loved the chorus and said let’s scrap everything else and turn this into a full hyperpop piece and that’s how we got the song. Lyrically, I was listening to a lot of Charli XCX, Kesha, Slayyter, LozeaK, Addison Rae & Australian Singer ‘Salty’ and that’s how I was inspired to write the lyrics I did.
I thought I want this to sound so self-obsessed that it’s almost a joke, but it’s really just me manifesting my future and when others listen to it, I want them to feel that same power.
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Happy: How was the experience of collaborating with Catia Sinigaglia and Rihana Pearson from Aussie Shore for the ‘OB$ESSIVE’ video?
Naccari: SO MUCH FUN !! I’ve known Catia for a while now through mutual friends and when we first met, we got along like a house on fire, it was almost like talking to a mirror.
We are both these high energy Italians that talk with our hands and get louder and louder as the conversation gets deeper.
When I thought about this music video I straight away thought of Catia. I called her and she reached out to some of the other girls and Rihana said she’d love to be a part of it.
Rihana was so cute & funny, she brought so much energy to the set and we’ve now become good friends, she’s a super fun time. And well if you’ve watched Aussie Shore you know that Catia is of course the most magnetic in a room, so she really played that sexy role on set.
Honestly so happy to have had these two a part of this project.
Happy: The visuals for your recent work are incredibly striking, from the snake and apple in ‘FANTASY’ to the Y2K glamour in ‘OB$ESSIVE.’ Why is pairing visual storytelling with your music so important?
Naccari: Visuals are so important to me. Whenever I write a track, I’m not just hearing melodies, I’m seeing the entire world around it.
I immediately drop into the scene and start asking myself: Where am I? What’s the lighting? What do I smell? What textures are around me? How does the air taste? Who’s standing beside me?
The music becomes a movie in my head before it ever becomes a finished song.For me, pairing strong visual storytelling with my music is about building a full sensory experience.
It lets the audience step inside the emotion rather than just listen to it. When the visuals and the sound speak the same language, whether it’s the snake-and-apple symbolism of FANTASY or the hyper-glam Y2K chaos of OB$ESSIVE, it deepens the connection.
People don’t just hear the story; they feel it, they recognise themselves in it, and they understand the world I’m inviting them into.
That’s why visuals matter so much to me, they bring the music to life in a way that words alone never could. Plus it’s also so much fun to be able to create these visuals. Sit there with a team and put your heads together to make an idea come to life.
Happy: How does transforming your personal vulnerabilities, like your experiences with BPD, into creative power like this change your relationship with those feelings?
Naccari: It allows me to accept them. BPD is something that’s caused through trauma at a young age and it is a result from some negative personal experiences I have been through. Singing about these emotions/moodswings I go through helps me process my traumatic experiences.
Although my most recent work has actually been quite fun and upbeat, there are a few tracks from my upcoming album that actually take quite a turn from what you’ve listened to so far.
They delve into much deeper topics, the real lows, the thoughts scratching inside your head and honestly when I’m sad or feeling hopeless, I play these songs that I’ve written.
I listen to them because it reassures me that I do understand these emotions and it helps me process the reason behind the emotion and let it out.
But then when I’m happy, or feel sexy or feel like I’m on top of the world, I play the other tracks I’ve written to reflect that. No matter the mood that I’m in, when I listen to my own music, it’s like someone else is there comforting me or lifting me up or telling me that what you feel is valid, you can feel this.
You’re allowed to be happy, you’re allowed to cry, you’re allowed to be flirty/sensual and you’re allowed to think that you are a hotty running around living your best life.
Happy: What is the ultimate feeling or message you hope fans take away from your music?
Naccari: I hope that the comfort I have found in my own music, gives other people the same comfort when they listen to my music. No matter the mood, I want it to amplify what you are feeling so that you can turn up the speakers and shout or scream or cry or laugh with it.
I want you to be able to embrace yourself with the good and the bad and feel your emotions, experience your emotions, be present with yourself.
Happy: Lastly, what makes you happy?
Naccari: Seeing how proud my Dad is for how far I’ve come. Today I actually sat with him because he wanted to show me something.
He opened ChatGPT and asked “Do you know who Renee Naccari is” and it spoke back to my Dad saying that I’m a singer etc and my Dad sat there so proud like wow look at that, and then he continued to ask ChatGPT more questions about me and my music and even though I know that half the facts it was spitting out are from profiles/bios that I have posted myself, it gave me the warmest feeling inside because no matter where I am or what I do, my Dad will always be in my corner and that is the thing that makes me happiest in life, knowing that my Dad is proud and supportive of both my career & myself as a person.
He is my rock and has always been my inspiration to keep going.
