Jennifer Walton's First Record "Daughters" Explores Grief and Style
Within the song "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a hotel room near JFK airport, as the musician receives a devastating news that her dad has illness discovery. This UK-raised artist had been traveling the US for the first time, playing alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief takes over, coloring everything with melancholy. Unsteady piano and hushed orchestration underscore gothic reports emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her soft vocals are delivered in a deadpan manner, yet the album's tension stems from the keen writing—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and direct personal notes—coupled with unexpected rich textures. Not many songs this year showcase more potent storytelling style compared to "Shelly", which depicts the death of a deer and descends into a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking literary works lit by flickers of distorted strings. Anxious, subdued sections with resonating, plucked strings transition into expansive refrains, with her voice digitally manipulated to become a presence omniscient and menacing.
Listeners may already be familiar with the artist as an electronic producer, DJ, and member to bands such as Caroline. Daughters' musical twists draw on this varied career. The first track "Sometimes" erupts in flourish, as if a string band taken unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with a punishing, beautiful, looping drum fill. Thick layers of audio, skillfully mixed by a longtime partner, seem at once gnarly and spiritual, while her dark, enchanted thinking peak in standout "Lambs", which momentarily becomes a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," Walton bargains, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.
