Danielle Spencer boasts a multi-disciplinary resume in show business that ranges from TV actress to live performer. However, it's through her singer/songwriter outlet that she has established an ongoing creative craft.
It's been a unique journey for the Sydney-sider born in London, though. One whereby a commitment to centralising her children and the role she played as a mother forced her away from songwriting and music for some time.
Her debut album, White Monkey, was shared with the world in 2002, with eight years separating it from her next release, and her first as an independent artist in Calling All Magicians. 16 years on, her most recent Regenerate was shared earlier this year, debuting inside the ARIA Australian Albums Chart Top 10.
As the title of the album suggests, it's an ode to the process of reestablishing oneself after many years away from music. Spencer spoke to The Music about the threads that contributed to the ultimate unveiling of the project.
“The gap between my first and second albums was very much about getting married and falling pregnant very quickly,” outlines Spencer. “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.
“I prioritised bringing up babies for a while, and I went through a phase where I felt as though I couldn't do the music as well. But the kids grew up a bit so then I started writing again and brought out Calling All Magicians after I'd got my head back together and got out of little kiddie mode.”
“Pretty soon after the second album my marriage broke up, I left that, and then I was a single mum, and life was complicated in other ways at that point. I got clear of a lot of that stuff and started writing again somewhere during that COVID fiasco.
“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 reveals. “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.”
It seems like a quick summary of that 24-year period, and yet the project Regenerate weaves through the specificity and complexity of Spencer’s rediscovery and engagement in the creative application of songwriting. She worked alone on the songs, writing the entire Regenerate album alone without any co-writing collaborations.
“The theme, ‘regenerate’ came from me feeling that there were wonderful things in that period of time,” she says. “Obviously, my family and especially my kids, but it was also kind of a strange, slightly difficult period just in terms of my need to be creative.”
Spencer continues, “Putting that aside for a long time left me feeling really flat and like I needed the stimulation of creating something. I was very, very happy to dedicate myself to my kids in those years where they really needed me.
“But I think if you're driven to write songs and you don't write them, you can start feeling a bit like something's missing in your life. During those times I was flatlining mentally, creatively and energy-wise.”
It was an easy choice to name the album Regenerate, as Spencer embodied a varied expression of regeneration. One that went beyond her return to writing music.
“I had some health issues that I had to deal with through that period as well,” adds Spencer. “Which made it hard to write. But when I got writing again, the theme regenerate just didn't involve too much thought; it was what I was doing, trying to bring myself back to life.”
The whole process has involved refusing to accept the “normal” approach for someone her age, all the while vying to honour the authenticity of her experience in life, when older artists often aren’t afforded a listening ear.
“I was waking myself up creatively, emotionally,” states Spencer. “Trying to not slip into that thing that I think a lot of people do as they're getting older, the allowing themselves to wind down or put things aside that they really want to do.
“I just thought, no, I have things to say, so I'm going to say it. I know I'm not 25, but I don't care. That process did wake me up and did make me feel more alive. We all experience periods in our lives when we realise we aren’t who we used to be, and because you're getting older, you can't be that person anymore.
“But I wanted to push back against that and say to myself, you can be that person. You don't have to step aside and drop everything you want to do just because you're getting older. Those transitional times in life sometimes require giving yourself a big kick in the backside and throwing caution to the wind.”
And Spencer has personified that in the independent release of Regenerate. The album is an offering to audiences far and wide to assign more attention to the elders in music amongst us, and to recognise that seasonality and growth come with age.
“Songwriters or singers, as they're getting older, are often sidelined or don't have the same platforms as younger songwriters,” contests Spencer. “I totally understand the pop thing, and I understand kids buying pop music from young artists, but personally I love listening to songs by people who've lived a bit.
“There's depth, wisdom and life experience in those lyrics that you just don't have at the age of 22. Older artist have had a chance to make their voices better, their lyrics better and their songs deeper.”
Spencer makes a good point, which comes through in an amplified manner in the album. Ultimately, it's a project centred in authenticity and refusal to age into silence. What’s more is Spencer has crafted a suite of music videos to accompany many of the released songs. Each bleeding into the theme of regeneration, and each as much a spectacle as the last.
Danielle Spencer’s Regenerate is out now.
