The First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Elegance
In this song "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a hotel room close to JFK airport, as Jennifer Walton learns a devastating update that her dad has cancer diagnosis. This UK-raised performer had been traveling America on her initial visit, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly sadness casts a shadow, coloring all with melancholy. Faltering keys and soft strings underscore dark dispatches emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her gentle vocals come across with a flat style, while the album's tension arises from the sharp penmanship—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and direct personal notes—along with unexpected rich textures. Few songs recently showcase stronger storytelling style compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of an animal and descends toward a petrol-laden reckoning, reminiscent of literary works illuminated with flickers of distorted cello. Tense, subdued sections with resonating, strummed strings move into grand choruses, and Walton's vocals digitally manipulated into something omniscient and sinister.
Audiences may already know Walton from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. The album's musical twists draw on this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in fanfare, as if an ensemble taken unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM via a punishing, beautiful, repeating percussion. Dense layers of audio, expertly mixed by a long-term collaborator, seem both rough and ethereal, while Walton's dark, magical thinking peak in standout "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a twirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.
