Jennifer Walton's First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style

Within the song "Miss America", listeners find themselves inside a lodging close to JFK airport, as the musician receives a devastating news of her father's cancer diagnosis. This Sunderland-born artist was touring the US on her initial visit, playing with group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief takes over, coloring all with melancholy. Faltering keys and hushed orchestration accompany dark reports emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Her gentle singing are delivered in a deadpan manner, yet the record's intensity arises from her keen writing—mixing stories, traditional phrases, and direct diary entries—coupled with unexpected maximalism. Few songs recently possess more potent novelistic style compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of an animal and descends toward a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking literary works lit with glimpses of warped strings. Tense, quiet sections featuring echoing, plucked strings transition to grand refrains, and Walton's voice digitally manipulated to become a presence all-knowing and sinister.

Audiences may previously know the artist as a music creator, DJ, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns reflect her diverse career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in flourish, like an ensemble taken by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM via a punishing, beautiful, looping percussion. Thick layers of audio, skillfully mixed by a long-term collaborator, feel at once gnarly and ethereal, and Walton's dark, enchanted thoughts peak on standout "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a swirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she bargains, exuding poignant gallows humor.