For her sixth album, The Starter Wife (Pleasure Loves Company), singer-songwriter Daphne Parker Powell (fka Daphne Lee Martin) 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 is cinema verite in song, boldly exploring the disposability of forever after. The Starter Wife’s intimate and elegant production aesthetic recalls Joni Mitchell’s early-to-mid 1970s album streak.

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.