The Debut Record "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
Within this song "Miss America", audiences find themselves inside a hotel room close to JFK airfield, as the musician receives a heartbreaking update that her dad has illness discovery. The UK-raised artist had been touring America on her initial visit, drumming with group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly sadness takes over, coloring all in grey. Faltering piano and soft orchestration underscore gothic dispatches from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Walton's gentle vocals are delivered with a deadpan manner, yet this record's tension stems from the sharp penmanship—blending stories, traditional phrases, and blunt diary entries—along with unexpected maximalism. Not many tracks this year showcase stronger novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", which describes the death of a deer and descends into a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking literary works illuminated with flickers of warped strings. Tense, quiet sections featuring resonating, plucked guitar move to grand refrains, and her voice electronically altered to become something omniscient and sinister.
Audiences may previously be familiar with Walton from her work as a music creator, DJ, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on her diverse background. The first track "Sometimes" erupts in fanfare, like a string band caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the tempo with a punishing, beautiful, looping percussion. Dense layers of audio, expertly mixed with a longtime collaborator, feel both rough and ethereal, and Walton's dark, enchanted thinking culminate on highlight "Lambs", which momentarily becomes a twirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with heart-aching gallows humor.