The Debut Album "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Elegance

In this song "Miss America", listeners are placed inside a lodging close to JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton learns a heartbreaking news that her dad has illness discovery. This UK-raised artist had been traveling the US on her initial visit, drumming with group Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly grief casts a shadow, tinging all with melancholy. Faltering keys and soft orchestration accompany gothic dispatches from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's soft singing are delivered with a deadpan manner, while the album's intensity stems from the sharp writing—blending stories, traditional phrases, and direct diary entries—along with unexpected maximalism. Few tracks recently possess more potent novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", which depicts the death of a deer and spirals into a petrol-laden reckoning, reminiscent of literary works lit by flickers of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued sections featuring echoing, plucked strings move into grand refrains, and her voice electronically altered to become a presence omniscient and menacing.

Listeners might previously be familiar with Walton as a music creator, disc jockey, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. The album's musical twists reflect this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, as if a string band caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with an intense, beautiful, looping drum fill. Dense layers of audio, skillfully produced with a long-term partner, feel at once gnarly and spiritual, and Walton's dark, magical thinking culminate on standout "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a swirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton pleads, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.