Danielle Ponder Signs to Dead Oceans in Partnership with Phoebe Bridgers, Debuts New Song “Power”

Danielle Ponder, the Rochester-raised, Atlanta-rooted vocalist with one of the most commanding voices in music, has signed to Dead Oceans in partnership with Phoebe Bridgers. To mark the occasion and honor Juneteenth, Ponder returns with “Power,” her first new music since 2023 and the opening statement of a bold new chapter.

Dead Oceans – home to Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, and Phoebe Bridgers herself – marks a significant new home for an artist whose ambitions have always outpaced her surroundings. The signing represents a meeting of kindred spirits: a label known for championing singular voices, and an artist who has one of the most singular voices in music.

“Power” was born from a life-changing trip Ponder took to Dakar, Senegal at seventeen. Over twenty years later, she returned to film the visual there with director Fede Kortez. The result is an arresting portrait of the city’s people, culture, and spirit, and a song about reclaiming what was always yours.

In Ponder’s own words:

“In Dakar I found a brightness in the eyes of the people and an absence of heaviness in their songs. Here, power and leadership all came in the color Black and I began to piece together the source of my own. This song is a love note to the girl I was at seventeen, who crossed an ocean to find a place where she could be. It’s a love note to the Black diaspora: may we always remember that we are people who can fly.”