My new single BLACK CAT, released on June 19th, 2026, is about my impression of Las Vegas, a city that I visited a lifetime ago, on a USA road-trip with a bunch of fellow travellers.
Las Vegas is everything that it is known for - too much of everything, in your face and available 24/7, if you care to pay the price. The city is in continual overdrive, every fluorescent message screaming of easy-access dopamine. Love it or loathe it, Las Vegas makes a lasting impression, and in my song BLACK CAT I wanted to capture the essence of this place.
The title of this song, BLACK CAT, refers to the metaphor I chose to describe this city, which moves seductively, like a black panther, prowling with a sultry smoothness that masks its true nature and intent. Musically I conveyed this through Calypso-Jazz inspired rhythms and the inclusion of brass. I was inspired in this by the work of C.W. Stoneking, whose work demonstrates an impressive capacity to musically embody a geographic place, with such vividness that you can hear the mosquitos buzzing and feel the sweat dripping down your own back.
The song BLACK CAT was written in March 2022, during my final year studying at the Conservatorium of Music in Hobart. On the recording you’ll hear local Tasmanian musicians and graduates from the Conservatorium of Music: Alex Millward (piano), Seb Folvig (Double Bass), Elijah Davies (guitar) and Declan Cooke (drums), as well as TSO’s Melanie Wilkinson (Trumpet). The recording was engineered by Melbourne-based artist/producer Lachy Hamill and mixed/mastered at Studio PR in Sydney, Tasmania.
I hope you enjoy the track, which you can listen to here, as well as stream/purchase on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube. For lyrics check out this blogpost. Credits listed here.
Renaté Bianca
June 19th, 2026