Daphne Powell is a singer-songwriter based in New Orleans whose work blends folk, Americana, and Southern soul into what her own site calls swampy torch folk. She writes at the piano, and her songs lean on vivid, unflinching lyrics drawn from divorce, grief, and rebuilding.
Her 2026 album, The Death of Cool (Pleasure Loves Company), was produced by Jimbo Mathus and mixed by Grammy winner Mike Napolitano, with a cast that includes Preservation Hall's Wendell and Caroline Brunious, Charlie Halloran, Brent Rose, Kirk 'Bowie' Russell, and members of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Singles included 'Speak No Evil,' featuring Eric Ambel, and 'In the Soup Till the Pot Rots.'
Powell's earlier full-length, The Starter Wife, documents her divorce with what reviewers described as an honest look at abandonment, codependency, and grief.
