The First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style
In this song "Miss America", listeners are placed in a lodging near JFK airfield, as the musician receives a devastating update that her dad has illness diagnosis. The Sunderland-born artist was traveling the US for the first time, drumming with group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly sadness takes over, coloring everything in grey. Unsteady piano and soft orchestration accompany gothic dispatches from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Walton's soft vocals are delivered with a deadpan manner, yet the record's intensity stems from the sharp penmanship—blending fiction, traditional phrases, and blunt personal notes—coupled with unexpected rich textures. Not many tracks recently possess stronger storytelling flair than "Shelly", a piece that depicts the death of an animal and spirals toward a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking literary pieces lit by flickers of warped cello. Tense, subdued sections with resonating, plucked strings move into expansive choruses, with Walton's vocals electronically altered to become something all-knowing and sinister.
Audiences may previously be familiar with Walton as a music creator, DJ, and contributor to bands like Caroline. The album's sonic turns reflect her diverse career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in flourish, like an ensemble caught unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with an intense, stunning, looping drum fill. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed by a longtime collaborator, feel at once gnarly and spiritual, and Walton's morbid, enchanted thoughts peak on standout "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a swirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she pleads, with heart-aching dark comedy.
