Singer/songwriter Mikayla Braun has been working in the trenches of New Orleans music for over a decade, carving a place for herself and connecting with musicians in the tight-knit circle of players breaking out of the “New Orleans music” mold.

Perhaps best known for her work fronting the rootsy-rock band, Crooked Vines, Braun is a pianist and ukulele player who sings with a gentle focus on her latest release, Drift. She wrote the music and lyrics and co-produced the album with drummer Cody Coulon.

Coulon and bassist Sam Albright make up her working trio. But for this collection of highly personal songs, she enlists several other local players including keyboardist Steve DeTroy (late of Walter “Wolfman” Washington’s band) and ace producer/mixer Rick Nelson.

The album opens with “Jasmine,” a mid-tempo ode to fading love. I suspect the object of her affections is a pet, but the universal sense of yearning, “I can’t imagine what would happen if I didn’t have you,” transcends gender and species.

Trombonist Miles Lyons and saxophonist Miles Berry pump up the song as they do on third track, “Magic.” Musically, both of these songs highlight this copacetic rhythm section. Braun’s vocals on “Magic” weave around the melody as she emphasizes the melancholy feeling of a lost connection.

DeTroy appears on the opening cut and reprises his guest turn on “Leap of Faith.” His Hammond B-3 percolates, turning the cut into a soulful lament before the bridge brings out the positive message inherent in taking a leap of faith. Braun’s voice jumps around the melody and the song demonstrates her strengths as an idiosyncratic pop songwriter, reaching towards jazz.

This album creates a definite mood, which is punctuated by a series of “sound palette cleansers,” nature recordings captured all over the world, from rural West Virginia to East Africa, New Orleans and New Zealand. Reach for it.