The industry veteran-turned-singer covers the May issue of Harper’s Bazaar U.K., and inside, she speaks about her divorce from Jack White — the one celebrated with a party. “I think we both have a healthy amount of respect for each other and that guides everything,” Elson told the magazine. “But it’s not without its hard work … there were times when Jack and I felt, ‘What is happening here?’ It was emotional. But it’s one of those moments in your life when you realise that you are a grown-up.” Elson mentioned her and White’s responsibility to their children Scarlett and Henry Lee (“it’s not like splitting up with a boyfriend in your twenties”) and shared the following story (mom of the year!):
Scarlett’s friend’s mother said to me the other day that her daughter asked her if she looked fat. Scarlett [her daughter] is blissfully unaware of those issues. But I don’t want my children to ever think that food is taboo. I don’t ever want to heap my baggage on them. I think Jennifer Lawrence is a brilliant role model for young girls, not some of the models that I see on the runway.
As for Elson’s entertainment career (she released her first album The Ghost Who Walks in 2010), White is encouraging her to put out a second record: “He keeps saying, ‘Get on with it! Just do it!’ I completely admire that, but it’s a stumbling block for me because I’m not sure if I’m ready to share this stuff yet.” She’s been in and out of the studio, but said, “This year is the year I take my guitar, lyric book and computer with me everywhere. If I compared myself to Jack, I’d drown in the ocean … I mean, he is the voice of a generation … I have a different process — I have a more female energy when I write.”
