Some say you only get one shot at the real thing. Some revel in the fleeting nature of it. Some trace its lines as if it were a map, wondering how they ever got here. Even with the best intentions, love can be merciless, costing us our foundational feelings about humanity.

For her sixth album, The Starter Wife (Pleasure Loves Company), singer-songwriter Daphne Parker Powell swan dives into a maelstrom of divorce and rises from the wreckage weary, wiser, and ready to take herself a whole lot less seriously. 

“This album is an exercise in ‘radical trust.’ Younger me believed his vows to have and to hold, love and cherish, through good times and bad, in sickness and health, till death do us part. He proved himself fiercely unworthy of it, and despite the myriad flags, I charged forward- heart first. Instead of choosing to steel myself against future pain, I decided to let myself stay vulnerable, and even open my heart wider than I ever had. This album is my honest look at abandonment, codependency, and grief,” the New London, Connecticut-New Orleans, Louisiana based artist shares. In an effort to take that as far as it would go, she has handed all of the production she typically does herself over to her first-time collaborator Duane Lundy at Lexington Recording Company. 

No Depression described Daphne as “the voice of futuristic folk-rock/alternative-roots music... exploring the outer reaches of nostalgic melody... ” Her singular Americana mélange includes a broad array of contemporary and classic inspirations that spans folk, country, vocal jazz, indie rock, hip-hop, and cinematic pop. Her words are pulled from an expansive well of literature and lyrical influences, from laissez-faire poets, satirists, and the Beats, to Feminists, modern philosophers and the sage guidance of  her friends who have been through the same anguish and risen to meet it.

This collection of songs recalls Joni Mitchell’s early-to-mid 1970s album streak in terms of intimacy and elegance. Here, instrumentation and emotions are stripped to the bare expressive essentials with understated drums for a storyteller folk design. This song cycle is dynamically enhanced with a handful of crunchy roots rock numbers. The Starter Wife has been brought to life through the artistic savvy of producer Duane Lundy and a posse of trusted friends who happen to be first-rate musicians. Central to this undertaking is longtime collaborator, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and violinist Kieran Ledwidge.

Kieran and Daphne’s connection is a kindred spirits musician’s fairytale. The Sydney, Australia-based internationally touring musician first met Daphne in 2013. Over the years, the pair have discovered a deeply personal, professional and musical bond. Kieran started performing with Daphne regionally, he appeared on her previous album, 2018’s Scared Fearless, and in 2019 he began formally touring with Daphne. He has since become an artistic confidant, and a close friend who knows and understands Daphne’s work from a rare vantage point. 

“I am always struck by how vulnerable Daphne is happy to make herself in her songs, and in front of an audience,” Kieran says. “The Starter Wife is Daphne at her most raw to date. It is a record and reflection on her thoughts and experiences in pulling herself up and out of the emotional turmoil of her divorce. A uniquely traumatic experience for her. Musically, I feel that the songs are the least constrained of any she has previously written, not necessarily adhering to conventional structure if the idea being explored doesn't call for it.”

The Starter Wife has taken just four years to make, but nearly four decades to live its narrative arc. It’s a portal into a dark chamber of Daphne’s soul where monsters have roamed since childhood, dating back to some painfully complex relationships, abuses and misunderstandings that have been brought into stark relief by the unraveling relationship chronicled by The Starter Wife.

It isn’t a linear “breakup” album any more than any grieving process is truly linear. Instead, the record explores the many dynamics that lead to the radical split of a seemingly indestructible pair, including mutual accountability, introspection, and ultimately foundational change. The songs in this collection touch upon notions of nurturing, care, patience, and “happily ever after” idealizations. Its songs grapple with the very institution of marriage as a cultural, religious, and societal construct. 

The Starter Wife also examines toxic attractions—why and how broken people unite—the loss of innocence, and the changing needs of each person in a decade-long relationship. The playful title also speaks to the disposability of seemingly seismic relationships once the flame has burned out. What was once a lifelong commitment, post-divorce fades into an afterthought at best, or a fading resentment. The album organically flows through moments that are courageously confessional, darkly humorous, and powerfully self-reflective. And much like grieving, The Starter Wife finds its way to healing and hope.

The title track, the most blunt and unpoetic on the album, carries the stinging lyrics: There are things they never teach you/And there are gifts you cannot buy/There are no atheists in foxholes/And I was not meant to be a starter wife. This is an anthem of freedom and rage in the face of blinding confusion and fear.

“Sentimental Pessimism,” Parts One and Two, are elegant folk companions that confront the many layers of acceptance in the grief cycle. The lonesome Americana of “Carry My Cage” is a song study of future nostalgia, the longing to fast forward time to a more peaceful place. 

On “Enough To Kill” she explains: “That song questions why someone who doesn't love you anymore will just keep you around. You’re still in love with them, so you stay and try to believe the best, knowing you'll never fly as high as you could without the weight of their needs, which seem to become harder to meet every day. And for some f-ed up reason, they still have to leave you because you just won’t pull the trigger. You question your own faith, judgment, and courage and it pulls you apart even more than their leaving ever could.” 

The song “Little Prince” is based on the novella by the French aristocrat, writer, and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This a lush, piano ballad replete with dynamic drums and majestic strings. Daphne says: “I lost myself in the role of belonging to my husband, and, when he left, I was lost. I reread the Little Prince as I was licking my wounds, and I found myself in the Fox, having been tamed, no longer able to fend for myself, and alone in the world." 

An emotional centerpiece of the album is “Something Like Heartache.” The song captures that moment of cold rain when the death of the relationship is painfully clear. Bags are being packed, shame and embarrassment are building inside, and shock is giving way to an impossible reality, it’s truly over. Within the confines of a spare piano ballad, Daphne makes one last emotional stand. Here, she sings: “If I could speak openly without fear of driving you off/I’d wonder how something so hard comes from something so soft/You say “I haven’t been in love with you in years...” and she leaves the audience without resolution just as she hung on the shock and finality of it in the moment.

The Starter Wife isn’t bound by CD, digital, and vinyl formats, though it’s available through these mediums. It’s an experiential offering expressed through storyteller live performances, assorted narrative writings, and a strong visual accompaniment, including artful videos and photos. 

Walking away from the wreckage of The Starter Wife, Daphne is pensive. She says: “I learned you have to be accountable for the damage. In this case, we were both at fault, we were both selfish, and for my part I’ve chosen to be kinder and truer to myself. One of the greatest truths I can carry away from this is that you’re really responsible for your own wholeness—you can’t leave that in someone else’s hands.”