🔗 Share this article The First Album "Daughters" Explores Sorrow and Style In this song "Miss America", listeners find themselves in a hotel room near JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton receives a heartbreaking update that her dad has illness diagnosis. The Sunderland-born performer had been touring America on her initial visit, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly sadness casts a shadow, coloring all in grey. Unsteady keys and soft orchestration accompany dark dispatches from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments." Walton's soft vocals come across in a flat manner, yet the record's intensity arises from the sharp writing—blending stories, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—coupled with surprising maximalism. Not many songs recently showcase stronger storytelling flair compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of an animal and spirals toward a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking literary works illuminated with glimpses of warped cello. Tense, subdued sections with resonating, plucked strings move into expansive choruses, with Walton's vocals digitally manipulated into something all-knowing and menacing. Audiences may previously be familiar with Walton from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. The album's musical twists reflect her varied background. The first track "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, like an ensemble taken by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the tempo with an intense, beautiful, looping percussion. Dense walls of sound, skillfully produced by a longtime collaborator, seem at once gnarly and ethereal, while her dark, magical thoughts culminate on highlight "Lambs", a song that momentarily becomes a swirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton bargains, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.