The First Record "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style
Within this song "Miss America", audiences find themselves inside a lodging close to JFK airfield, as Jennifer Walton receives the heartbreaking news that her dad has illness diagnosis. The Sunderland-born artist was touring the US for the first time, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief casts a shadow, coloring everything with melancholy. Faltering keys and hushed orchestration underscore dark dispatches emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her soft vocals are delivered with a deadpan style, while the record's intensity arises from the sharp penmanship—blending stories, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few tracks this year possess stronger storytelling style than "Shelly", a piece that describes the killing of an animal and descends toward a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of written pieces lit with flickers of distorted strings. Anxious, subdued verses featuring echoing, plucked guitar transition to expansive refrains, and her voice electronically altered into something omniscient and menacing.
Audiences may already know the artist from her work as a music creator, disc jockey, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" bursts in flourish, as if a string band taken unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM via an intense, beautiful, repeating percussion. Thick walls of sound, skillfully produced with a long-term partner, feel at once rough and ethereal, while her morbid, enchanted thinking culminate on standout "Lambs", which briefly becomes a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," Walton pleads, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.
