The First Record "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Style
In the song "Miss America", audiences are placed inside a lodging near JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton learns the heartbreaking update of her father's illness discovery. This Sunderland-born performer was traveling America on her initial visit, drumming alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly sadness casts a shadow, tinging all with melancholy. Unsteady piano and hushed orchestration accompany gothic reports emanating from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her soft singing come across with a flat manner, yet this album's tension stems from the keen writing—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and blunt diary entries—coupled with unexpected maximalism. Not many songs this year showcase stronger novelistic style than "Shelly", a piece that describes the killing of a deer and spirals toward a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking literary works lit by flickers of distorted strings. Anxious, quiet sections featuring echoing, plucked strings move to grand refrains, with her voice electronically altered into something omniscient and sinister.
Audiences may already be familiar with Walton from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on this diverse background. The first track "Sometimes" erupts with fanfare, as if an ensemble caught by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM with an intense, stunning, repeating percussion. Thick layers of audio, skillfully mixed by a longtime collaborator, seem both rough and ethereal, while her morbid, enchanted thoughts peak on highlight "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a swirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she pleads, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.
