The Debut Record "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
Within this song "Miss America", audiences are placed in a lodging close to JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton receives a heartbreaking news that her dad has illness discovery. The UK-raised artist had been traveling America on her initial visit, playing alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly grief casts a shadow, tinging all with melancholy. Faltering keys and hushed strings accompany dark dispatches emanating from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Her gentle vocals come across with a flat manner, while this record's intensity stems from the sharp penmanship—blending stories, folksy sayings, and blunt personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Not many tracks this year possess stronger novelistic style compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of an animal and descends into a petrol-laden reckoning, reminiscent of written pieces illuminated with glimpses of distorted strings. Tense, quiet verses featuring resonating, plucked strings move to grand refrains, with her vocals electronically altered into something all-knowing and sinister.
Listeners may already know the artist from her work as a music creator, disc jockey, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns draw on this diverse career. The first track "Sometimes" erupts with flourish, as if a string band caught unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with an intense, stunning, looping drum fill. Dense layers of audio, expertly mixed with a long-term collaborator, feel at once gnarly and ethereal, while Walton's dark, magical thinking culminate on standout "Lambs", a song that momentarily transforms into a twirling dance. "May your life never end in death," Walton pleads, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.
