Las Vegas has a particular kind of beauty: bright, theatrical and never entirely what it seems. For Michelle Renae, who grew up there before making Nashville home, that tension has become creative material. On “Pretty as Vegas,” the independent pop artist and producer turns the city into a metaphor for modern dating while opening the door to a wider body of work shaped by memory, place and the experience of feeling like an outsider.
Spotlight
Music · 2026
In Focus
Michelle Renae
On “Pretty as Vegas,” Michelle Renae draws on the glamour, confusion and contradictions of her hometown, shaping them into a dark, synth-driven pop song about modern dating. Written and produced by Renae herself, the track also begins a wider Vegas-inspired world built from memory, sound and the feeling of being an outsider looking in.
Good Hours — For the hours that make a life.
Las Vegas, Away From the Strip
Good Hours: You grew up in Las Vegas, a city that millions of people know mainly as somewhere they visit. What does Las Vegas look and feel like when it is simply home?
I think it feels like any other warm, loving home. I grew up about 20 minutes away from downtown, went to school, went to church, and messed around in my little suburb area. There’s definitely a strong community in Vegas for the locals that I loved and really miss.
Good Hours: When you moved from Las Vegas to Nashville, what did you notice yourself missing about the place you had left — perhaps something you hadn’t realized mattered to you while you were living there?
Oh goodness, I think the most obvious one would be my family and house. But they’ve always mattered to me! On the funny side, I actually prefer driving in Vegas much more than driving in Nashville. There are crazy drivers in both, but the Vegas streets are a lot more grid-like than Nashville! On the serious side, I miss the desert. I always thought that it was kinda ugly growing up, but now that I’ve been away for a while, I really do miss those gorgeous desert sunsets.
Now that I’ve been away for a while, I really do miss those gorgeous desert sunsets.
Turning Vegas Into Sound
Good Hours: “Pretty as Vegas” uses the city as a metaphor for modern dating. Was there a particular characteristic of Vegas — the spectacle, uncertainty, illusion, risk, something else entirely — that first made you realize the comparison worked?
The Strip in Las Vegas to me is pure chaos. It’s fun and glamorous, but it’s very chaotic down there. And I think that’s basically what modern dating has become, to be blunt. Especially with online dating apps and the times just changing, it can look great from the outside, but once you’re in it, you just get dizzy.
Good Hours: You incorporated sounds from the casino floor into the production. What were you listening for when you collected those sounds, and is there one tiny detail buried in the finished track that you especially love?
I actually added a vibraslap to the original demo of the song. A vibraslap is a percussion instrument that was used a lot in ’80s pop records, but it hasn’t really been used as of late. When I first showed it to my family, they thought I put the sound of slot machines in there, since they didn’t know what a vibraslap was, but I loved that that’s what they took away from it! The vibraslap is still in there when the chorus hits, but it’s a little quiet.
Good Hours: You’ve spoken before about Thriller being part of the sound of your childhood, and Michael Jackson’s showmanship influenced “Pretty as Vegas.” What have you learned from studying an artist like that beyond simply borrowing a particular sound or era?
The biggest thing I’ve learned from Michael Jackson is being 100%, truly yourself. And for a while, I was scared that what I liked was too… common? I love pop music, but so does half the world. I love Michael Jackson, but so does the whole world. I’ve finally grown and accepted that it’s okay that my tastes in fashion, visuals, music and sounds are “trendy.” There is a reason that they’re trendy anyway! And ever since I was small, I always loved the darker, groovy side of pop that Michael Jackson brought, and I’m so excited to release a song that’s somewhat part of that sonic world.
I’ve finally grown and accepted that it’s okay that my tastes in fashion, visuals, music and sounds are “trendy.”
Writing, Producing and Finding the Song
Good Hours: Because you write and produce your own music, you don’t have to hand an idea over to someone else to determine what it should sound like. What does producing allow you to express that songwriting alone can’t?
Oh my goodness… especially with “Pretty as Vegas,” being able to produce it allowed me to finally realize that the weird melody in my head actually made sense for the song. The chorus is literally just a long riff of “ohhhh,” and that’s hard to capture acoustically at a Nashville writers’ round. That chorus needed the instruments behind it for it to finally click.
Good Hours: When you’re building a track from scratch, what usually arrives first for you — a lyric, melody, sound, visual image, feeling — and at what point do you know that an experiment has actually become a song?
Most of the time, I do write my songs acoustically before I start building a track. So I will usually have a melody + lyrics already down, but with that, I will already have an idea of what the sound of the song needs to be. I think if I write a song, and I keep going back to it thinking, “Man, this is good,” then that’s a sign that I really do need to flesh it out in a session. At that point, that’s when I’d say an experiment becomes a song.
Building a World Beyond the Songs
Good Hours: You’ve described this release as the beginning of a larger Vegas-inspired world. When you’re creating a “world” around music, what exists beyond the songs for you — colours, clothes, places, characters, photographs, memories, objects?
I imagine a whole storyline and everything with the songs. When I was in high school, I used to be an author on a choose-your-own-adventure app. I was decently successful on it, but I would write songs that would go along with the stories. I think that is helping me now with what I’m creating with “Pretty as Vegas.” It’s a giant capture of what my life was like living in Vegas, and how poor my mental health was. I imagine little music videos with each song which, of course, comes with colors, clothes, places, etc. And I’m just excited because I am finally stepping into a world where it feels cohesive across multiple songs of mine. The branding for “Pretty as Vegas” will match the ones I will release after that and the storyline is finally being formed.
Good Hours: There’s often a romantic image of creativity as something spontaneous, but producing music can involve hours of very detailed work. What does an ordinary productive day actually look like for you, and do you have any routines that help you get into that headspace?
An ordinary productive day for me is… chaotic. I’d love to say that I’m a full-time producer, and all the time I’m just making music, but I’m not. I have a day job working at a country music label in Nashville, helping with their financial department. I really do love working there and the opportunities that came from it are endless, but finances is definitely not my choice of career. But for now, I try to get an hour or two of production in the morning. After work, I’ll either post on social media or practice or do a livestream. And then after that, I’ll add another two hours of production time. So unfortunately, it does take me a while to get songs done, but I know that when I get up early enough, my headspace is super sharp + clear and I can get a lot done in that time.
Between Nashville and Las Vegas
Good Hours: You’re making pop music in Nashville while carrying Las Vegas into this next body of work. Do those two cities bring out different parts of you creatively?
Oh yes, for sure. Whenever I think of Vegas, I think of synth pop, EDM, and the Killers/Imagine Dragons. A lot of Vegas inspires my production choices. In Nashville, I think of country (of course), folk and more acoustic sounds that I did not grow up with. However, living here has made me love that side of music, and learning those other genres has helped me become a better songwriter even if I still choose to do pop songs.
Good Hours: If someone could experience this next chapter in the way you imagine it — rather than simply hearing individual singles as they arrive — what kind of place or feeling would you want them to enter?
I would want them to enter Vegas with me. One that’s glamorous, but a little off-putting. One that makes you dance, but also think a little bit. I would want them to feel heard when it comes to mental health, especially if they feel like an observer or outsider in a crazy world. Ultimately, I would just want the “outsiders” to feel welcome inside.
That tension — glamour alongside discomfort, movement alongside reflection — sits at the centre of the world Renae is beginning to build. “Pretty as Vegas” arrives September 18.
Michelle Renae: Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Michelle Renae?
Michelle Renae is an independent pop artist and producer originally from Las Vegas and now based in Nashville.
What is “Pretty as Vegas” about?
Renae uses the glamour and chaos of Las Vegas as a metaphor for modern dating, particularly the disorienting experience of navigating contemporary dating culture.
Does Michelle Renae produce her own music?
Yes. Renae writes and produces her own music, and describes production as an important part of translating melodies and ideas into their finished form.
How does Las Vegas influence Michelle Renae’s music?
Beyond being her hometown, Las Vegas influences Renae’s production choices and the visual world surrounding her music. She associates the city with synth-pop and electronic music, as well as glamour, chaos, desert landscapes and memories of growing up there.