Danielle Ponder

Many of us discovered Danielle Ponder with a debut album titled Some Of Us Are Brave four years ago now. The singer from Rochester stepped away from the beaten track with this subtle blend of neo-soul and alternative R&B, producing an extraordinary result.

Water has flowed under the bridge, and the time has come for her to hit even harder with her successor, titled Everything Has Changed, released on Dead Oceans and in partnership with Phoebe Bridgers.

Danielle Ponder blends old-school soul with the sounds of the future in the dazzling “Everything Has Changed”.

Many innovative R&B albums have emerged over the past decade, but few have married futurism and tradition with as much finesse as Danielle Ponder on her second studio album, Everything Has Changed (“Everything has changed”).

She has a powerful, almost explosive soul voice, shaped by her upbringing in gospel and church music. Yet she only draws on its power sparingly, alternating between this impressive voice, a middle contralto register and an intimate, vulnerable soprano.

She also sometimes moves abruptly from this delicate register to a powerful, heart-rending voice, pushed to its limits, which is practically the opposite of any form of vulnerability. Danielle Ponder's career is as fascinating as her music.

Born in Rochester, New York State, but now based in Atlanta, she grew up performing with the family group, before devoting herself mainly to a legal career focused on criminal justice reform. It was only in her late thirties that she fully decided to pursue a music career.

After releasing a remarkable first album in 2022, Some of Us Are Brave, she signed with Phoebe Bridgers’s label Saddest Factory, which has since merged with Dead Oceans.