Jennifer Walton's First Album "Daughters" Explores Grief and Style

Within this track "Miss America", audiences find themselves inside a hotel room close to JFK airfield, where the musician learns the heartbreaking update that her dad has illness discovery. This UK-raised artist had been traveling America on her initial visit, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief takes over, tinging everything with melancholy. Faltering piano and hushed orchestration underscore gothic dispatches from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Walton's gentle vocals are delivered with a deadpan style, while this record's intensity stems from her keen writing—blending fiction, folksy sayings, and direct personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few tracks this year showcase stronger storytelling flair compared to "Shelly", a piece that depicts the death of an animal and spirals toward a fuel-soaked reckoning, reminiscent of literary works illuminated with flickers of distorted cello. Tense, subdued sections with echoing, strummed strings move into grand choruses, with her vocals electronically altered to become something all-knowing and sinister.

Audiences might already be familiar with the artist from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member in groups such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on this varied career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, like a string band caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM with a punishing, beautiful, repeating drum fill. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed with a long-term partner, feel at once rough and ethereal, while her morbid, magical thoughts peak in highlight "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," Walton bargains, with poignant gallows humor.