The Debut Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
Within this song "Miss America", listeners find themselves inside a lodging close to JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton receives a heartbreaking update of her father's illness diagnosis. The UK-raised performer was touring America on her initial visit, playing with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly sadness casts a shadow, tinging everything with melancholy. Faltering piano and hushed orchestration underscore dark dispatches emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Her soft singing come across with a flat manner, while this record's intensity arises from her keen penmanship—blending fiction, traditional phrases, and direct personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few songs this year possess more potent storytelling style than "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of a deer and spirals into a fuel-soaked confrontation, evoking written works lit by flickers of warped cello. Tense, quiet sections with echoing, plucked strings move to grand choruses, with Walton's vocals electronically altered into something all-knowing and sinister.
Audiences may already be familiar with Walton from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and member to bands such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns draw on her diverse career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts in flourish, as if an ensemble taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the tempo via an intense, beautiful, looping percussion. Dense layers of audio, skillfully produced with a longtime collaborator, seem both rough and spiritual, and Walton's dark, enchanted thinking culminate on highlight "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a twirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton pleads, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.
