The Debut Album "Daughters" Explores Grief and Style
Within this song "Miss America", listeners are placed in a lodging near JFK airfield, as the musician receives a devastating update of her father's cancer discovery. This Sunderland-born performer had been touring America on her initial visit, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief casts a shadow, coloring everything in grey. Faltering piano and hushed strings underscore gothic reports from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her gentle vocals come across with a deadpan manner, yet this record's tension stems from her keen penmanship—blending fiction, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—along with surprising maximalism. Not many songs recently showcase more potent novelistic style than "Shelly", which depicts the killing of a deer and spirals toward a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking written pieces illuminated by glimpses of distorted cello. Tense, quiet sections with resonating, plucked strings transition into grand choruses, and her vocals electronically altered to become something all-knowing and menacing.
Listeners might already know Walton from her work as a music creator, disc jockey, and member in groups like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists draw on her varied career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in fanfare, like an ensemble taken by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with a punishing, beautiful, repeating percussion. Thick layers of audio, skillfully produced by a longtime collaborator, feel at once gnarly and ethereal, and her morbid, magical thoughts culminate in standout "Lambs", which momentarily transforms into a twirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she pleads, with heart-aching dark comedy.
