The Debut Record "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
Within the song "Miss America", audiences are placed in a lodging near JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton learns the heartbreaking news of her father's cancer discovery. This Sunderland-born performer had been traveling the US on her initial visit, drumming with group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly sadness takes over, tinging all in grey. Unsteady keys and hushed strings underscore dark dispatches emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her soft singing are delivered in a flat manner, yet this album's intensity arises from her sharp penmanship—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt personal notes—coupled with unexpected rich textures. Not many tracks recently possess stronger storytelling style than "Shelly", which depicts the death of an animal and spirals into a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking written pieces illuminated with glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued sections with echoing, plucked strings transition to expansive choruses, with Walton's voice digitally manipulated into a presence omniscient and sinister.
Audiences might already know Walton from her work as a music creator, DJ, and member to bands such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on this varied career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, as if an ensemble caught by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the tempo via a punishing, beautiful, looping percussion. Thick walls of sound, expertly mixed by a longtime partner, seem at once rough and ethereal, and Walton's morbid, enchanted thoughts culminate in highlight "Lambs", a song that momentarily transforms into a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she pleads, with poignant dark comedy.
