After a challenging few years, Australian singer-songwriter Danielle Spencer is finding her voice again – and this time, she’s letting the world hear it.
The musician and former wife of actor Russell Crowe has poured her heart into her most personal album to date, which she admits was created during a period when life felt very heavy.
“I tend to want to write songs if I’m feeling flat or struggling with things a bit,” Danielle, 56, reveals to Woman’s Day.
“I think that’s what drives me towards writing… and then I find that very therapeutic. It kind of wakes me up again.”
OUT OF THE DARKNESS
For Danielle, the creative process became a lifeline. The album, titled Regenerate, was written entirely by her, and explores the emotional process of pulling yourself out of darker moments and rediscovering your spark.
“That’s kind of the theme of the album really,” she explains. “It’s pulling yourself out of those moments where you feel like you’ve run out of batteries and like you can actually wake up and step into that central role in your life again.
“It was really good for me mentally. I’ve really learned throughout this whole process that I can pull myself out of a coma,” she adds.
RUSSELL’S SUPPORT
Danielle’s renewed passion for music has also drawn support from ex-husband Russell Crowe, who she split from in 2012 after nearly a decade of marriage.
And while Russell hasn’t heard the full album yet, Danielle says he did reach out after hearing one of the songs.
“He sent me a lovely message saying, ‘Congratulations, that sounds epic,’” she says with a smile.
The Gladiator star, 61, also invited Danielle to perform at one of his recent shows – a gesture she describes as “lovely”.
“It was fantastic,” she says. “It was really lovely of him to ask me and I really enjoyed the night.”
Rusty has only enjoyed a snippet, and their two sons Charles, 22, and Tennyson, 19, and her partner of 10 years Adam Long are yet to hear the full product too!
“I tend to keep things quite close to my chest,” she says. “I mean [Adam] has heard a few things, he’s walked in and hears things and I think I played some early things to him and my parents late one night, but that was a long time ago.
“I haven’t sat him down. I’d actually rather people hear it on their own with their headphones going for a walk or going about their day. Not even my sons have really heard it, I think it’s probably
a little uncomfortable for them.”
FAMILY, LOVE & LOSS
Much of the new record draws from Danielle’s own life experiences, including deeply emotional themes like family, love, loss and even addiction.
“One track, Satellites, proved especially difficult to write,” she admits. “One of the things I’m most fearful of in life is losing people I love. And my parents are getting older… I kept getting choked up writing that.
“And another track, One Man Show, is about addiction and somebody close to me has struggled with that. So that was also a bit confronting to write.”
With her music finally ready to share, Danielle hopes other women might take the same message to heart.
“I think as we get older, you can kind of lose yourself a bit in all of your responsibilities.
“Women especially can get to an age where they’re just looking after everybody else and they sideline themselves, and then they feel like they’re completely depleted.
“They’re looking after kids, they’re looking after ageing parents, and they’re kind of a shadow in the middle of all of that. But I’d love those women to know I understand it and you can kind of step back in and be that central character in your life. Don’t be sidelined and you can still have fun!”
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