🔗 Share this article

In this track "Miss America", audiences are placed inside a lodging near JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton learns the heartbreaking update of her father's illness diagnosis. The UK-raised performer had been traveling the US for the first time, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly sadness casts a shadow, tinging all in grey. Unsteady keys and hushed strings accompany gothic reports from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's gentle vocals are delivered with a flat manner, yet the album's tension stems from her sharp writing—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and direct diary entries—coupled with surprising rich textures. Few tracks this year possess more potent storytelling style compared to "Shelly", which depicts the death of a deer and spirals into a fuel-soaked reckoning, reminiscent of literary works lit with flickers of distorted cello. Tense, subdued sections featuring resonating, strummed guitar move into expansive refrains, with her vocals digitally manipulated into a presence omniscient and menacing.

Audiences might previously know the artist from her work as a music creator, disc jockey, and contributor in groups like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists reflect this varied career. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in fanfare, as if a string band taken unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the tempo via an intense, beautiful, repeating drum fill. Dense walls of sound, skillfully produced with a longtime partner, seem both rough and ethereal, while Walton's dark, magical thoughts culminate in highlight "Lambs", which momentarily transforms into a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with poignant gallows humor.