The Debut Record "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style
In this track "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a lodging near JFK airfield, where the musician receives a devastating news that her dad has cancer discovery. The UK-raised artist had been traveling the US for the first time, playing alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly sadness takes over, tinging all with melancholy. Faltering keys and hushed orchestration underscore dark reports emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Walton's gentle vocals come across in a flat style, yet this record's intensity arises from the keen penmanship—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and direct personal notes—coupled with unexpected rich textures. Few tracks this year showcase more potent novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", a piece that depicts the killing of a deer and spirals into a fuel-soaked confrontation, reminiscent of written pieces illuminated by flickers of distorted cello. Anxious, quiet sections featuring resonating, plucked strings move into grand choruses, with her vocals digitally manipulated into a presence omniscient and sinister.
Listeners might previously know the artist from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and contributor in groups like Caroline. The album's musical twists draw on this varied background. The first track "Sometimes" erupts in flourish, like an ensemble taken by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the tempo via an intense, beautiful, looping percussion. Dense walls of sound, skillfully produced with a long-term partner, seem at once gnarly and ethereal, while her morbid, magical thinking peak on standout "Lambs", a song that momentarily transforms into a twirling jig. "May your life never end in death," Walton pleads, with heart-aching dark comedy.
