The Debut Record "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style
Within this track "Miss America", listeners find themselves inside a hotel room close to JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton learns the devastating update of her father's cancer discovery. The Sunderland-born performer was traveling the US for the first time, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly sadness takes over, tinging all in grey. Unsteady keys and hushed orchestration underscore dark reports from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Walton's soft singing are delivered in a flat style, while this album's tension stems from the sharp penmanship—blending fiction, traditional phrases, and blunt personal notes—along with unexpected rich textures. Not many tracks this year showcase more potent storytelling flair than "Shelly", which describes the death of an animal and spirals toward a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking written pieces illuminated by glimpses of distorted strings. Tense, subdued sections featuring resonating, strummed guitar move into expansive refrains, and her voice electronically altered into a presence omniscient and menacing.
Listeners may previously know Walton from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. The album's musical twists draw on this varied career. The first track "Sometimes" erupts in fanfare, as if a string band taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the BPM with a punishing, beautiful, repeating percussion. Thick layers of audio, expertly mixed with a long-term collaborator, seem both rough and spiritual, and her morbid, magical thoughts peak in standout "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a twirling jig. "May your life never end in death," Walton bargains, with poignant gallows humor.
