The First Record "Daughters" Explores Grief and Style
In the track "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a hotel room near JFK airport, where the musician receives a heartbreaking news that her dad has illness diagnosis. This Sunderland-born performer had been traveling the US on her initial visit, playing with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly sadness casts a shadow, coloring all in grey. Unsteady keys and soft orchestration underscore dark dispatches from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Walton's soft singing are delivered in a deadpan manner, yet this album's tension stems from the keen penmanship—blending stories, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—coupled with unexpected maximalism. Few songs this year possess stronger novelistic style than "Shelly", a piece that describes the killing of a deer and spirals toward a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking written works illuminated by flickers of distorted strings. Tense, quiet verses with resonating, strummed guitar transition into expansive refrains, with Walton's voice electronically altered into a presence all-knowing and sinister.
Listeners might already know the artist from her work as a music creator, DJ, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on this diverse background. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in fanfare, like an ensemble caught by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with a punishing, stunning, repeating percussion. Thick layers of audio, expertly produced by a long-term collaborator, seem at once rough and spiritual, and Walton's dark, enchanted thinking peak on standout "Lambs", which momentarily becomes a twirling jig. "May your life never end in death," Walton pleads, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.
