The First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style

Within the song "Miss America", audiences find themselves inside a hotel room near JFK airfield, as Jennifer Walton learns the heartbreaking news of her father's cancer discovery. The UK-raised performer had been touring America on her initial visit, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly grief casts a shadow, tinging all in grey. Unsteady keys and soft strings accompany dark dispatches emanating from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's gentle vocals are delivered with a flat style, yet the album's intensity arises from the keen penmanship—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—along with surprising maximalism. Not many tracks recently possess stronger novelistic style than "Shelly", which depicts the killing of a deer and descends toward a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking literary pieces illuminated with glimpses of distorted strings. Anxious, subdued verses featuring echoing, plucked strings transition into expansive refrains, with her vocals digitally manipulated into a presence all-knowing and sinister.

Listeners may already be familiar with the artist from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns reflect her varied career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with flourish, as if an ensemble taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the tempo via a punishing, beautiful, looping drum fill. Dense layers of audio, skillfully mixed with a long-term collaborator, feel at once gnarly and ethereal, and Walton's dark, enchanted thoughts culminate on highlight "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a twirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she bargains, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.