Danielle Spencer returned with her long-awaited third album, Regenerate, earlier this year. The Australian actress, singer and songwriter has starred in popular series such as Home and Away and Dancing with the Stars, but now, music is her main focus once more.
Regenerate follows Spencer’s first two albums, White Monkey, released in 2002, and Calling All Magicians, which dropped in 2010. Regenerate marks her first album in 16 years.
“The gap between my first and second albums was very much about getting married and falling pregnant very quickly,” Spencer revealed in a recent interview with The Music. “Life took over, and I had to travel a lot, tend to my young family whilst my husband was frequently working overseas. It was difficult for me to continue on with my songwriting at that point.”
Spencer noted that music fell down the list of must-do items as she prioritised raising her children, plus she went through a phase “where I felt as though I couldn’t do the music as well.” After her second album, Spencer experienced a marriage breakdown with Russell Crowe, and “life was complicated in other ways” as she became a single mother.
“Initially I wasn’t sure if I was going to do a whole album, but I got some momentum going and found my passion and enthusiasm for it again,” she explained. “I felt like I had a lot of songs in me. I had found myself back feeling creative and energised and wanting to put some material out again, so I just went with it.”
Of course, Spencer’s long-awaited return to music didn’t happen overnight, nor did she make it all happen alone. She has an outstanding team backing her, including Director/Creative/Editor Tim Madden and Fleur Egan, an English fashion stylist and presenter currently based in Sydney.
The Music caught up with Madden and Egan for a chat about working on the Regenerate campaign and what it’s like to work with Danielle Spencer. Check out the Q&A below.
The Music: You have worked with Danielle from the very first visual for this album to the latest. Can you tell us about your initial experiences with Danielle and her team, and how that has led to you being an essential part of the creative hub that has brought the album to life?
Fleur Egan: The thing I love most about Dani is that she has a specific vision that goes with her music, which I find really inspiring to be involved in. Every single detail is considered and thought about so that the music and the visuals really tell a story. As a creative, it’s so wonderful to come on board a team like that, as you can really make magic come to life through visual storytelling.
TM: How much of the creative process has been a collaborative effort with Danielle?
FE: It’s always a creative collaboration with Dani. I love seeing inspirations that she sends to me, and I love taking elements of that and then creating something that works for her and feels personal and aspirational.
Tim Madden: What was quite remarkable with Older was that Danielle and I had independently put together moodboards for the video before showing them to each other, and when we then compared them, they were incredibly similar. That's very rare. It meant we were essentially on the same page creatively from the very beginning, and the collaboration developed really naturally from there.
Danielle had a really clear sense of what the song meant to her and what she wanted it to say, but at the same time she gave me a lot of freedom to interpret that visually. For me, the best music videos usually come from that balance. The artist brings the emotional truth of the song, and then my job as a director is to find a visual language that can express that without simply illustrating the lyrics.
TM: What did you want to bring to the stories for Regenerate, especially Older, in video form?
FE: I wanted to show different emotions through the clothes to really fill the videos with beautiful visual moments almost like artworks.
TM: Working in beauty, make-up and fashion has to be so rewarding, especially when you see visions come to life. How much did ideas change from the initial stages to what we see in the videos, like Older?
FE: Most of our visions we were actually able to achieve, which was incredible. The only real things we had to be really aware of were just making sure we had fabrications that could move so that Dani could be free in her movements.
TM: What is a typical video shoot for Danielle Spencer like? Do. you have any specific memories that stand out from the Older shoot?
FE: It’s always so much fun! Dani has brought together the best teams from choreographers, dancers, hair artists and make-up creatives. It’s such an incredible creative circle of people. A memory from the Older video is just how big that black skirt was and getting it onto set.
TM: What has been your favourite design/look for Danielle during your time together and why?
FE: So many. I loved the look from Older in the black skirt and plastic melted corset, as it really did look like she was coming out of the earth. I just think that outfit visually works so well; it represents strength.
TM: Music videos also tell the stories behind the songs on the album. What did you want to bring to Older in video form?
Tim Madden: What struck me about Older was that it isn't really a song about ageing in the conventional sense. It’s about perspective. There’s something quite powerful about reaching a point where you can look at yourself, your life and everything you've been through with a different kind of clarity.
I wanted the video to capture that feeling rather than tell a literal story. I wanted it to feel reflective and cinematic, but also strong. There’s confidence in being able to say, "This is who I am now." That was probably the most important thing I wanted to bring to the visuals.
TM: Working in this medium has to be so rewarding, especially when you see early visions come to life. How much did ideas change from the initial stages to the eventual videos?
Tim Madden: They always change, and I think they have to. You begin with an idea on paper, but then you find the locations, the lighting changes, you see something through the camera that you hadn't anticipated, and suddenly the idea starts becoming something real.
I tend to go into a shoot knowing very clearly what I want, but I also try not to be so rigid that we miss something better. Some of my favourite moments are often things that weren't precisely planned.
The original concept gives you the framework, but there’s an instinctive part of filmmaking that happens on the day. That evolution from something you've imagined in your head to something that actually exists is probably one of the most rewarding parts of directing.
TM: Which parts of Danielle do you think went into the visuals to really outline that she’s back and has plenty to say?
Tim Madden: For me, it was really about creating strong visuals and making the video feel like a statement from both a visual and fashion standpoint, in the same way that the song itself is a statement. We wanted every image to feel confident and striking.
It needed to feel strong because it represents where Danielle is now, but also how far she's come over the course of her career. Rather than looking backwards, we wanted to present Danielle as she is now. An artist who knows who she is, with a very clear sense of what she wants to say.
Regenerate is out now.
