There is a particular kind of love that does not end when a relationship does, the affection and the care that persist even after a marriage has dissolved, the warmth that keeps burning quietly long after two people have gone their separate ways. This is one of the most bittersweet truths of human relationships, that love and the ability to stay together do not always coincide, that you can lose a marriage while keeping the love that animated it. Reetoxa, the artistic vision of Melbourne songwriter and vocalist Jason McKee, has captured this truth in a tender ballad, and Love Keeps Burning Still, released June 5, 2026, tells the story of McKee’s divorce while honoring the love that survived it, a delicate masterpiece of piano and strings and vulnerable vocals that emerges as a tender centerpiece within a rocking double album.
The story behind the song gives it genuine emotional weight. The track chronicles McKee’s divorce from his ten-year relationship with Lee, whom he met at Munich’s Oktoberfest in 2003 and married from 2011 to 2016. The poignant irony at the heart of the story is that it was McKee’s own relentless drive to pursue music that ultimately separated them, the very passion that created this beautiful song being the same force that ended the marriage it mourns. This irony gives Love Keeps Burning Still a depth that a simpler breakup song would lack, the recognition that the artistic devotion which produced something beautiful also exacted a profound personal cost, the song being both the fruit of that devotion and a reckoning with its consequences.
The title itself captures the song’s central insight with precision. Love keeps burning still suggests both that the love continues to burn and that it burns while lying still, the burning persisting even in the stillness of a relationship that has ended. This image of love that keeps burning quietly after the relationship has concluded is the emotional core of the song, the recognition that the end of a marriage does not extinguish the love that made it, that the warmth persists even when the partnership cannot. The wish that McKee expresses, that he and Lee should still be friends, reflects this enduring affection, the love surviving the divorce and seeking some form of continuation even after the marriage has ended.
The musical realization of Love Keeps Burning Still is genuinely ambitious, particularly for an independent artist. The delicate interplay of piano and stirring strings and vulnerable vocals creates a sound of cinematic beauty, the kind of arrangement that many believe will become a staple in Hollywood romantic films. The piano provides the intimate foundation, the vulnerable vocals carry the emotional truth, and the strings add the sweeping grandeur that elevates the song to genuinely cinematic heights. This combination of intimacy and grandeur is difficult to achieve, the song being both deeply personal and expansively beautiful, the delicate and the stirring held together in a single arrangement.
The use of a Budapest strings orchestra from Europe represents an unprecedented risk for an independent artist, and the ambition it reflects is rarely seen in independent Australian music. Working with the European orchestra via Zoom, McKee and producer Simon Moro took on a high-risk, high-reward approach that few independent artists or perhaps anyone in the world would attempt, the incorporation of a full orchestra into an independent project being genuinely unheard of. This ambition paid off, the resulting masterpiece leaving even McKee’s friends in disbelief when they first heard it in the seaside town of Lorne on the Great Ocean Road, unable to believe that an independent artist and mate could create something of such quality. The willingness to take this risk reflects the same relentless artistic drive that both produced the song and ended the marriage it mourns.
The collaborator lineup that McKee assembled for Reetoxa represents genuine Australian music royalty. The project features Kit Riley on bass, whose credits include Robbie Williams and Ross Wilson, James Ryan on guitar, known for his work with Ross Wilson and Men At Work, and Peter Marin on drums, who has played with Jet and Ross Wilson, alongside studio virtuoso Terry Hart on piano. For this duet, Riley brought in his wife Jessica McPherson-Riley, a well-known stalwart of the Australian music scene, to add her vocal talents, the duet format giving the song a dimension of dialogue that suits its subject of a relationship between two people. This assembly of accomplished musicians reflects the seriousness of the project and the respect that McKee commands in the Australian music scene.
The song was written during the heart of COVID lockdown, emerging from an intensely creative but turbulent period when McKee was composing at an extraordinary pace under extreme conditions. This period of intense creativity came at a genuine personal cost, the turbulence of the time taking a real toll on McKee’s wellbeing, and the song carries the weight of having been created during such a difficult period. The emotional honesty of Love Keeps Burning Still reflects this genuine difficulty, the song emerging from a place of real struggle and channeling that struggle into something beautiful and tender.
Born from the gritty yet vibrant streets of South Melbourne, a suburb known for its Grand Prix and exceptional coffee culture and eclectic character, Reetoxa represents a bold artistic statement in contemporary songwriting. The contrast between the gritty origins and the delicate beauty of Love Keeps Burning Still reflects the project’s range, the same artist capable of both rocking material and tender ballads, the double album encompassing both ends of this spectrum.
Love Keeps Burning Still is the sound of love that outlasts the relationship that contained it, a tender and cinematic masterpiece that honors the warmth that persists even after a marriage ends. Jason McKee has channeled the pain of his divorce and the irony of his artistic devotion into something genuinely beautiful, the delicate piano and stirring strings and vulnerable vocals creating a song worthy of the love it mourns.
The relationship ended, but the love keeps burning still. Reetoxa has made a tender masterpiece from heartbreak, the ambitious orchestration and the emotional honesty combining into a ballad that lingers like the love it describes. If the intense periods of creativity and difficulty in this story resonate with your own experience, please know that support is available, and reaching out to a trusted person or a mental health professional can make a genuine difference during overwhelming times.
