The First Record "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Elegance
In this track "Miss America", audiences find themselves inside a lodging near JFK airport, as Jennifer Walton learns a devastating update of her father's illness diagnosis. The UK-raised performer was traveling America for the first time, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly grief takes over, coloring all in grey. Unsteady keys and soft orchestration underscore gothic reports from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Her soft singing are delivered in a flat style, yet the album's intensity arises from her keen writing—blending stories, traditional phrases, and direct diary entries—coupled with surprising maximalism. Not many songs this year possess stronger novelistic style compared to "Shelly", which describes the death of a deer and spirals toward a petrol-laden confrontation, evoking literary works lit with flickers of warped strings. Anxious, quiet verses featuring resonating, strummed strings transition to expansive refrains, with Walton's voice electronically altered into a presence all-knowing and menacing.
Audiences might previously know the artist as a music creator, DJ, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns reflect this diverse career. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in flourish, as if an ensemble caught unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM via an intense, beautiful, looping percussion. Dense layers of audio, skillfully mixed by a longtime collaborator, seem at once rough and ethereal, while Walton's morbid, magical thoughts peak in highlight "Lambs", which briefly transforms into a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.