The First Album "Daughters" Explores Grief and Elegance

In the song "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a lodging near JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton receives the heartbreaking update of her father's cancer discovery. This Sunderland-born performer had been touring the US for the first time, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly sadness casts a shadow, tinging everything in grey. Faltering piano and hushed orchestration accompany gothic reports from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Walton's soft vocals come across in a flat style, while the record's tension stems from her keen writing—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and blunt diary entries—along with unexpected rich textures. Few songs recently showcase more potent novelistic style than "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of a deer and spirals into a fuel-soaked confrontation, evoking written pieces lit by glimpses of warped strings. Anxious, subdued verses featuring echoing, plucked guitar move to grand choruses, with Walton's vocals electronically altered to become a presence omniscient and menacing.

Listeners may already be familiar with Walton from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and member in groups like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists reflect her varied background. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with flourish, like a string band caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with an intense, stunning, repeating drum fill. Dense walls of sound, skillfully produced with a long-term collaborator, feel both gnarly and spiritual, and her dark, magical thinking peak on highlight "Lambs", which momentarily transforms into a twirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she pleads, with heart-aching dark comedy.