Renee-Louise Carafice is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-born experimental pop singer and songwriter. As of 2014, she was based in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Biography

Carafice was born and raised in New Zealand. In 2003, due to a severe bout of

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introdu ...

, fears for her safety prompted the government of New Zealand to make her a

ward of the state In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court". Overview The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient jur ...

and place her in a mental institution in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Her recovery from this episode informed the recording of her debut album, ''Tells You to Fight''. This album was recorded at Steve Albini's

Electrical Audio Electrical Audio is a recording studio, recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there. Unlike most producers, Albini refuses ...

studio in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and released in 2008 on the New Zealand

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Monkey Records. In addition, she collaborated with rapper

Serengeti The Serengeti ( ) ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa, spanning northern Tanzania. The protected area within the region includes approximately of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. The Serengeti ...

and producer Tony Trimm in the group Yoome, which released the album ''The Boredom of Me'' in 2008. She also appeared on two tracks on Serengeti and

Polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

's 2009 album ''

Terradactyl ''Terradactyl'' is the second collaborative studio album by American musicians Serengeti and Polyphonic. It was released on Anticon in 2009. Critical reception Marisa Brown of AllMusic gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "an impressiv ...

''. While recording ''Tells You to Fight'' in Chicago, Carafice met the Nashville-based band Heavy Cream, who she eventually followed to move to Nashville. Her second album, ''I Will Raise a Bird Army'', was released in September 2010. It was recorded at Hill Street Studios in Onehunga, New Zealand, and produced by Jamie Stewart in Chicago. The

New Zealand Music Commission The New Zealand Music Commission (NZMC) (Māori: ''Te Reo Reka o Aotearoa'') is a government funded arts agency committed to growing New Zealand music business, both domestically and internationally. It is governed by a Board of Trustees made up ...

described this album as "starkly beautiful and gently disturbing". In 2011, she returned to New Zealand to support

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...

. In 2013, Yoome released a 7" entitled "Tragedy of the War/Peaches and Pebbles" on the label Heardrums. The 7" contains two songs from their album ''June'', which was also released that year. Carafice's third album, ''Power Animals'', was released in 2014 on her own label, Bird Army Records. It was written while she was receiving extensive

hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy is a type of mind–body intervention in which hypnosis is used to create a state of focused attention and increased suggestibility in the treatment of a medical or psychological disorder or concern. Popularized by 17th and 18th cen ...

, and was originally released in an unfinished form in mid-2012. She later started a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign that led to the album being re-recorded with the help of Daniel Tomczak. According to Carafice, "This album is an anti-suicide note: love songs to myself and hate songs to the haters. These songs say: I am alive, and perhaps being alive is more brutal than being dead."

Discography

Solo

*''Tells You to Fight'' (Monkey, 2008) *''I Will Raise a Bird Army'' (Bird Army, 2010) *''Power Animals'' (Bird Army, 2014)

With Yoome

*''The Boredom of Me'' (Audio8, 2008) *''Tragedy of the War/Peaches and Pebbles'' (Heardrums 7", 2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carafice, Renee-Louise New Zealand emigrants to the United States Living people American women singer-songwriters Experimental pop musicians American women pop singers Year of birth missing (living people) American male singer-songwriters 21st-century American women