The First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
Within the track "Miss America", audiences are placed in a lodging close to JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton learns the devastating news of her father's cancer diagnosis. The UK-raised artist was traveling America for the first time, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly grief takes over, tinging all with melancholy. Unsteady keys and soft orchestration accompany gothic reports emanating from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Walton's soft singing come across in a flat style, while the album's intensity stems from her keen penmanship—mixing fiction, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few songs recently showcase stronger novelistic style than "Shelly", which describes the killing of an animal and descends into a fuel-soaked confrontation, evoking literary pieces illuminated with glimpses of warped cello. Tense, subdued sections with resonating, strummed strings transition into expansive choruses, and Walton's voice digitally manipulated to become something all-knowing and menacing.
Listeners may previously know Walton from her work as a music creator, disc jockey, and contributor in groups like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists draw on this varied career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts with flourish, as if a string band taken by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM with an intense, beautiful, repeating drum fill. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed with a long-term partner, feel at once rough and ethereal, while her morbid, magical thoughts peak in standout "Lambs", which briefly transforms into a swirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton pleads, with heart-aching dark comedy.
