Daphne Parker Powell – “The Death of Cool”

There’s a certain kind of album that makes you pay attention from the first note. Because you can tell someone meant every single second of it. The Death of Cool is that record. Daphne Parker Powell, based in New Orleans, has put together ten tracks that push back on posturing and cynicism and ask, in the most earnest way possible, why we stopped being honest with each other.

The production alone is worth talking about. Platinum-selling Jimbo Mathus helmed the sessions, with Grammy Award-winning Mike Napolitano handling engineering and mixing, and you can hear the care in every corner. Lush horn arrangements, swamp-soaked guitars, upright bass. Players from New Orleans, Mississippi, and Muscle Shoals. The lead single “Scorched Earth & the Flood” is a strong entry point. Caroline Brunious’ clarinet is what stays with you. It floats over the whole thing and gives the song this aching, cinematic quality you don’t expect until it hits you. A couple of tracks that grabbed my attention are “Perpetual Light of the Void”, “The Death of Cool”, and “In the Soup Until the Pot Rots”.

The album’s bigger argument is interesting too. Powell is interrogating what rebellion, cynicism, and “cool” even mean anymore, and she’s not preachy about it. The music is warm and danceable. There’s torch-song energy and Southern gothic grit and genuine humor. It critiques without lecturing. That balance is hard to pull off.

This is a record that rewards repeated listening. You catch something new each time. If you haven’t come across Daphne Parker Powell’s earlier work, start there. Then come back to this one. And follow Daphne Parker Powell to keep up with everything she has coming out the rest of this year.