“Afterglow” , the second single from Don and the Divorcees, will be available on all major online platforms from 16 May. Written by Beans Wright, who also does lead vocal, ‘Afterglow is a wistful love letter from an introvert, the kind that never makes it as far as the postbox. ’
Don and the Divorcees is a collaboration among Te Whanganui a Tara singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Don Mackay, Hollie Wright and Beans Wright (no relation). Beans as a soloist was one of the main stage guests at the 2023 Wellington Folk Festival.
The three friends had from time to time performed together in various combinations. This gave rise to the decision to try working together as a trio. Each brings their own compositions to the table and we then work together to make the most of them.
As we each tend to write a slightly different style of song, the unifying element of our sound comes from the arrangements featuring tight vocal harmonies over multiple stringed instruments. While this gives breadth and variety to our live performances, it does make us, in marketing terms, seriously genre non-compliant.
We are a bit “old school”. Our songs are strongly centred on the lyrics, which tell stories or paint pictures, and are designed to be listened to. The instrumentation is built around a variety of acoustic stringed instruments (guitars, violin, mandolin, cello and bass). The whole approach is pretty “wooden” and low tech. We see ourselves as “spiritual folkies” performing contemporary songs.
Since we debuted the lineup during the winter of 2023 we have performed regularly around the broader Wellington area, at music venues, around the local folk scene, and at local festivals (most recently headlining on the Songwriters Stage at the Newtown Festival 2025).
If you want to check out what we sound like live you can follow the link https://www.youtube.com/@DonandTheDivorceesBand. You will find live recordings of five songs from a gig in April 2024. This includes “Seventeen” and 3 other songs that will be on the “Bit Players” album.
“Seventeen” was recorded in June 2024. Recording and mixing was by Warwick Donald, and the recordings were mastered by Mike Gibson.
What next?
“Afterglow” is the second online single from the forthcoming album “Bit Players”, following “Seventeen” in March. The full album (7 songs) is currently available as a CD only limited edition. For details of how to get your copy email donandthedivorcees@gmail.com. A further online single release is planned for June, before the full album is released online in July.