The Debut Album "Daughters" Explores Sorrow and Style
In this track "Miss America", listeners are placed inside a hotel room close to JFK airport, as the musician learns a heartbreaking update that her dad has illness discovery. The UK-raised artist was traveling the US on her initial visit, playing alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly sadness casts a shadow, tinging everything in grey. Unsteady piano and soft orchestration underscore dark reports from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Walton's soft singing are delivered in a deadpan style, yet this record's intensity stems from the keen penmanship—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt personal notes—along with unexpected maximalism. Few tracks this year possess more potent storytelling style compared to "Shelly", a piece that depicts the killing of an animal and descends toward a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of literary works lit by glimpses of distorted strings. Anxious, subdued sections with echoing, plucked strings move into expansive refrains, and Walton's voice electronically altered to become something all-knowing and sinister.
Listeners may previously know the artist as a music creator, DJ, and member to bands such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on her diverse career. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in flourish, as if an ensemble taken by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the tempo with an intense, stunning, looping drum fill. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed with a long-term collaborator, seem at once gnarly and spiritual, and Walton's dark, magical thinking culminate on highlight "Lambs", which briefly becomes a twirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton bargains, exuding poignant gallows humor.