Co-Writing
Character before chorus.
I don’t start a session by chasing a hook. I start by asking who’s singing, where they’re standing, and what they want badly enough to write a song about. Melody, structure, the hook itself: all of it gets built to serve that one answer.
The Approach
Most co-writes start with a title, a beat, or a vibe. Mine start with a person: an actual narrator, standing in an actual scene, wanting something specific enough that a song is the only way to say it.
That’s not a stylistic preference. It’s the difference between a song that sounds finished and one that actually lands, so before we write a single line together, we work out who’s talking.
The Framework
Every song, underneath whatever it’s wearing, is three things: someone singing, somewhere they’re standing, and something they want. Miss one and the song floats. Get all three right, and the hook barely has to work for a living.
01
Character
Who, exactly, is singing this? Not “a girl who’s sad,” a specific person with a specific voice, one who wouldn’t say another artist’s lines. Every session starts here, before a single chord gets played.
02
Scene
Where are they standing when the song happens? A kitchen at 2am. A car in the driveway with the engine still running. A real scene gives the listener somewhere to stand too.
03
Desire
What do they want badly enough to write a song about, and what’s standing in the way of it? That tension is the engine. Without it, the chorus has nothing left to resolve.
04
The Scene Test
Strip the production away, the drums, the synths, all of it, and read the lyric flat on the page. If you can still picture exactly what’s happening, it’s finished. If you can’t, it isn’t, no matter how good it sounds right now.
Fails the test
“I feel so alone right now, it’s tearing me apart.”
True, and invisible.
Passes the test
“Porch light’s still on. Nobody’s waiting up.”
Just as true, and you can see it.
That’s the discipline behind every session here: find the moment first, then let the craft serve it. It’s also worth reading in full if you want the longer version.
What You Bring
None of it needs to be finished. It needs to be something to react to.
- A title or phrase that hasn’t turned into anything yet.
- A half song: a verse that works, a chorus that doesn’t.
- A track from a producer, with a gap where the vocal should be.
- A feeling you can’t quite find the words for, which is usually where the best sessions start.
If any of that sounds familiar, book a free chat.
Inside a Session
01
We find the person
Before anything gets written down, we work out who’s singing and what they’d actually say. If that’s already clear in your head, we start faster. If it isn’t, that’s the first thing we build.
02
We build the scene
A title, a rough melody, a track with a gap: any of it gives us something to push against. One of us throws an idea into the room, the other reacts, and the scene starts to take shape. That’s how I approach every session.
03
We follow what resists
Some lines fight the song. We don’t force them to stay. The line that gets cut is still worth writing if it helped us reach the one that stays. I’ve sat in sessions where the whole song turned on one image someone almost didn’t say out loud.
04
We run the Scene Test
Before anything gets called finished, we strip the production and check: can you still see it? If yes, we’re done. If not, we go back in.
Live sessions run two to three hours. Async exchanges go until the song is somewhere worth stopping, then we pick it up again if needed.
What You Leave With
A rough demo
Voice memo or DAW bounce: something you can sit with before deciding anything.
A finished lyric
Not a placeholder. Every line has already passed the Scene Test.
A clear next step
Either the song is done, or you know exactly what it still needs.
A split, agreed
Standard starting point is 50/50, settled while the session’s still fresh.
Session Formats
Remote
Anywhere in the world
Video call and a shared doc. Fast enough that you stop noticing the distance.
In Person
New Zealand
Studio or home session. Better acoustics, easier to play things back.
Async
On your own clock
Voice notes and rough passes, each one building on the last.
No. A title, a feeling, a reference track, or just a blank page all work. Something concrete to react to helps (a rough melody, a track with a gap) but it’s not required. We find the starting point together.
Live sessions, remote or in-person, typically run two to three hours. Async exchanges don’t have a fixed clock; we go until the song is somewhere worth stopping, then pick it back up if needed.
Good, bring it. The framework still applies: we check the narrator, the scene, and the desire against what you’ve already built, and use whatever’s already working. I’m serving the song you’re making, not replacing it with mine.
Standard starting point is 50/50, agreed at the end of the session while everything is still fresh. If the split needs adjusting based on what actually happened in the room, we discuss it then, openly, without it becoming a thing.
Yes. Cinematic pop, conceptual pop, dark pop, and sync-ready writing are home territory, but the session follows the song, not a style guide. If the song wants to go somewhere else, we go there.
Common. Book one session and see what comes out of it. We can continue from wherever it lands, with no pressure to wrap everything in a single sitting if the song isn’t ready.
Toplining means writing the vocal melody and lyrics over an existing track or beat: the “top line” of the music. If you’re a producer with a strong track and no vocal idea, that’s toplining. Co-writing is two writers building a song together from any starting point — a rough idea, a chord progression, a title that almost works. Both are available here. The format depends on where your song is.
Session fees are discussed when you book — I give you a clear number before anything starts. Nothing is open-ended or assumed.
About
I’m Reece, a songwriter, topliner, and producer based in Aotearoa New Zealand. I grew up arranging pop songs to perform them, learning what made them work by trying to rebuild them exactly. The character-scene-desire framework didn’t come from a course; it came from years of asking why one line worked and the line next to it didn’t. That’s still how I read a song.
More about ReeceBook a Session
Bring the half-finished song. I’ll bring the questions that finish it.
Remote sessions with independent artists across pop, alt, and cinematic genres. Not sure it’s the right fit? That’s what the call is for. A short note is enough to get started.